I'll Be Your Guide
by I am a Ridaa
Summary: When one is best friends with a magical creature, anything can happen. For the past six years, Penn Zero has been living with a fairy who doesn't remember anything about her past. Now, they are about to be working in a team as part-time heroes. Verge is to make sure she watches over her hero and be the best "fairy guide" she can be. (OC insert story)
1. Divergent

**Prologue: Divergent**

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**Shortly after I finished a fanfic, I uploaded a new one! And I'm doing a Penn Zero story! I can't help loving it :) So please don't hate on this.**

**This is my very first OC insert story, actually. I downloaded every single one of the Penn Zero: Part-time Hero episodes just so I could get all the details right! And when I did, I imagined my OC with them and boom. New fanfic. I know most people won't even bother reading this, but I hope you, my dear reader, will enjoy it. I'll do my best to make sure you didn't waste your time by clicking this story and reading it!**

**(Edit: This prologue has been slightly re-written, due to spoilers I have seen in a video, and fanpedia leaks. If you've seen it before, I suggest reading it again. If not…well, enjoy :) )**

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_It was supposed to be an ordinary day today. But what was happening? A wild goose chase._

_Or, more like, a wild fairy chase._

_A certain brown-haired, golden-winged fairy that was ten times the size she was normally supposed to be was running through different dimensions using her portable MUT. She didn't know where she was going. She didn't know why she was running anymore. Why couldn't she fly? Someone, or something, injured her wings. She can't fly now. All she could do was run._

_'What do I remember?' the fairy thought to herself._

_'My name is Divergent. People call me Verge. I'm not sure who those "people" could be. I am seven years old. Pretty young, if you ask me. I don't know where I live. I don't know who my parents are. Do fairies even have parents? I don't know what is chasing me. I don't know why I am running. I'm just begging someone to come help me.'_

_The fairy ran through the dimensions some more. Whatever was chasing her must've given up. She would never know what had happened to her now._

_"Getting tired," she wheezed to herself. "Must stop."_

_Her MUT was malfunctioning. Mayday, mayday. If it broke now, she'll never be able to get back home (or find any proper home) anymore. The dimensions crossed before her eyes, threatening to make her choose._

_Finally, she stopped._

_Water droplets are the first things that came in contact with her wings as soon as she entered the new dimension. She collapsed on the cold hard ground, finally able to relax. 'How cliché,' she thought again._

_But even now that she stopped running, she was still wounded. She needed medication. She needed aid. She took the time to look around._

_How strange the new world was. Wingless fairies walked around, carrying some kind of force to shield them fro the rain. Only a few people noticed her, but no one helped her up._

_"Help," she tried croaking out. It only made the others walk away more._

_The fairy was in pain now. Her body ached and her wings were sore. She could barely pull herself off the ground. She was just about to give up._

_Until she saw him._

_A boy that looked eight years old with red hair and cyan eyes came up to her. He gasped at the fairy, wondering what in the world she could be doing in an area like this. As he called for his parents, the fairy managed to speak again._

_"Please…help…" Then she blacked out._

_The boy panicked. "Mom, Dad!" he called again. The boy's parents ran up to him, holding their umbrella above them and gasped._

_"A fairy!" the mother gasped. "Here in our world!"_

_"A fairy?" the boy questioned._

_"No doubt about it," his father said, examining her wings. "From Fairy World, obviously. But that's a dimension only fairies can allow permission to enter and leave."_

_"It's bigger than usual," the mother commented, stroking her wings. "She's so beautiful!"_

_"And young. I'd say about your age, son."_

_"What's she doing here?" the boy asked._

_"We don't know," the mother sighed. "But she's here now."_

_"And in pain," the father added, examining the wings._

_The boy glanced at the fairy again. She really was injured. If he were in her place, he would want someone to help him out too. "We're going to take her home, right Mom and Dad?"_

_"That's sweet thinking, Penn," the boy's mom cooed. "Of course we'll help her!"_

_"Once she's fixed up, she'll be up and flying in circles in no time!" The father then proceeded to pick the fairy up. The boy named Penn offered to help._

_"She's going to be OK?" he asked._

_"Sure, sweetheart," the mother replied. "And once she's better, she can tell us what happened to her."_

_The boy stared at the wounded fairy. It was a mystery on why she was here. But they had to focus on getting her better. Penn didn't know why, but he really did care._

_"Stay alive," he whispered._

* * *

_The next time the fairy woke up, it was in a boy's bedroom. She wondered why she was there. Wasn't she lying on the streets just a moment ago?_

_She sat up. The red-haired boy she saw was by the bed she was laying on, sitting on a chair. Penn's cyan eyes lit up. "Hey, you're awake!"_

_The fairy immediately bolted back into the corner of the bed. She was surprised. Had he brought her back to his home?_

_Penn held his hands up. "Easy, easy, I'm not going to hurt you," he said calmly. "My parents and I rescued you."_

_The fairy was hesitant, but she relaxed a bit. "Are you OK?" Penn asked._

_"I…I'm OK…"_

_"That's good. But you should probably still rest. You were pretty hurt back there."_

_She then noticed the bandages on her hands, arms, and legs. Her wings didn't hurt anymore either. She smiled. "Thank you, wingless one!"_

_He grinned. "Well, my parents helped out too."_

_"Hi, sweetie!" Penn turned to find his parents at the door. "I see the fairy has finally woken up."_

_"How is she, sport?" his Dad asked._

_"She said she's fine."_

_"Thank you for taking care of me," the fairy spoke up._

_"It's no trouble, dear," the mother said sweetly. "What's your name?"_

_"D…Divergent."_

_"Divergent?" Penn echoed. "What kind of name is that?"_

_"Penn! Don't be rude."_

_"It's all right," Divergent said. "I get that a lot." She frowned. "At least, I think I do. You can call me Verge, for short."_

_"Well, Verge," the father started. "When we found you on the streets, we knew right away that you belonged to the hidden Fairy World dimension. We were wondering why and how you got here in the first place."_

_That's when Verge got a sad look on her face. "I…I don't know."_

_Penn frowned. "You don't know?"_

_"I…don't remember…I don't even know where 'Fairy World' is…"_

_"You must have gotten amnesia," the mom gasped. "You poor thing!"_

_Verge looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I have no idea what I'm doing here…I just know…I was running away from my world…I can't go back if I can't remember how."_

_"Then you can stay with us!" Penn blurted out. "You can stay with us until you remember!"_

_Verge and both his parents stared at him. "You don't have to! I don't want to be a bother!"_

_"Vonnie, I think our son is onto something here," the father smirked at his wife._

_The mother smiled. "It's not a bad idea, Brock. Don't you want to live with us for a while, Verge?"_

_"Huh?"_

_"Take as much time as you need to be here," Penn said, grinning. "We really don't mind. It's always nice to have someone new around the house."_

_Verge stared at the family. They were so nice. They're just taking her in, just like that, without a second's thought. She smiled a genuine smile of gratitude. "Thank you…thank you all so much!"_

_"It's a pleasure, Divergent," the mother said. "Oh, and by the way, you may call me Vonnie. This is my husband Brock."_

_"Pleased to meet you!"_

_"My name is Penn Zero!" the boy introduced, giving a toothy grin._

_Verge raised an eyebrow. "Penn…Zero?" She hesitated. "Can I call you Zero?"_

_Penn blushed a bit. "Uh, well, I don't think that's—"_

_"Zero it is then!" Verge giggled. Penn's parents laughed. Penn did so too._

_"Well, at least you're cheerful now," He smiled at the fairy. "I think we're going to be good friends, Verge."_

_She smiled back. "I think so too, Zero."_

* * *

It took a couple more days for Verge to completely heal. Once she was all right, she was able to fly again. She was also able to discover her different fairy powers. She could transform to a smaller fairy size, make things float and fly, and even nature magic like making things grow, caring for animals, etc. Penn and Verge always had the best times hanging out together.

Penn and Verge never knew about his parents' secret lives as heroes. They traveled from dimension to dimension, saving the world and being back before dinner. But neither of the kids noticed this. For years, the secret was kept from them. All they knew was that they were doing very important things, and Verge knew Penn wanted to follow their footsteps one day. They even made a promise that they would work together. Whatever this "thing" is, they would be a team. This promise continued on for a few more years.

Because Verge was different, she had to stay hidden. Whenever the Zeros went out, they would usually have her shrink to a smaller size, have her wings hidden behind a vest, or simply let her stay at home. Penn and his parents were literally the only friends and family she had.

Until Penn met Boone. During high school, they met Sashi. The three of them became best friends in no time. Verge was there to see them at those times, but she couldn't meet them at first. Until the four had their first mission. They seemed to get along pretty well, and before they knew it, the four of them became a quartet.

Verge's stay in the normal, human dimension lasted for almost six years. She may have enjoyed being a part of the Zero family, but she yearned to know about her real one. The days, weeks, and months passed, and she had not gotten any sign of remembering anything.

"Maybe it's good that you don't know how to get back to your real world," Penn told her one day in their room. It was the day before they met Boone and Sashi, and they seemed to be having an "emotional moment".

Verge frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why do you think you were driven out of there in the first place? Maybe you did something unforgivable. It's probably best if you didn't risk it and keep staying here with us."

The fairy shook her head. "I can't just give up, Zero. I had a life before all this. I have to know what it was like!" She sighed and turned away. "You wouldn't understand what it's like to lose your family…you wouldn't know what it's like to not know about who you were…"

"Hey, look, Verge," Penn placed a hand on her shoulder. "I wasn't trying to make you feel bad…but I'm just saying. If you left…well, we'd miss you. I'd miss you."

Verge nodded, forcing a smile. "Thanks, Zero." She sat up straight. "But I can't stop looking now. Yeah, it's been six years. But my world is still out there. I won't ever stop looking until I find it. I have to know where I belong."

"This is where you belong, Verge," Penn lightly kissed his best friend's forehead in comfort. The fairy blushed a little at that. He held his finger out and smiled. She smiled back at him and turned to smaller size as they did a "tiny fist bump."

* * *

They shouldn't have been talking about leaving. Later, after having their very first mission, they discovered Brock and Vonnie Zero got stuck in the Most Dangerous World Imaginable.

They claimed they would be fine, even though they had to be trapped there for a while. Penn and Verge suffered the news more than anyone. Brock and Vonnie were his parents and her guardians. They were the ones that always cared for them, and were always there for the two. They would be missed dearly.

Uncle Chuck and Aunt Rose moved in with them a few days later. Nothing really changed, except for the fact their parents were gone. Penn was especially sad one night after their first mission as Verge decided to try cheering him up. As he held a special box his parents gave him, Verge flew over to him. "Zero-"

"I know, I know," he said. It was surprising to see the smile on his face. "You were going to say something about my parents, right? Well, save your breath. I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You sound like a girl right now, and if there's one thing any girl would want when they're sad, it's comfort."

Penn playfully rolled his eyes. _'Typical Verge.'_

Verge walked over to him, placed a hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. "You were always there for me when I was sad or thinking about my lost home. We're like siblings. I'm here for you, Penn."

The smile on Penn's face melted away. He was staring at the ground, nodding slightly. "Thanks Verge…I guess we both know what it's like to lose our families now, huh?"

"Nope," she said. "You didn't lose all your family, you know." She raised an eyebrow at him knowingly.

Penn chuckled a bit. "Yeah, you're right…"

"We're all here for you, Zero," Verge shrunk small-sized and flew to his shoulder. "It's all going to be just fine. Your parents will continue to save the world in that trapped dimension."

The red-haired boy nodded, assured. "Well…guess that means one thing."

"Stay up past bedtime!"

"What—No. We have to fill in for them, don't we?"

"Ohhh…right, right! Especially now that you proved yourself at this mission. I think we'll be fine." She gave a playful smile. "With a Zero for a leader, I know we will."

"Well, thanks." Penn smirked for a bit, but then slightly hesitated. "Do you really think I can do it? Be a part-time hero, I mean?"

"Sure you can!" Verge gave a salute. "You know, you keep doubting yourself. But today, you proved _yourself _wrong. I said it once, I'll say it again: you can do it, Zero. And with your trusty fairy on you shoulder and Boone and Sashi on either side, we'll be invincible!" She stood on top of his red hair and beamed. "Trust me."

Penn did. He grinned widely up at her, as the two stared into a mirror. He could do this. He held his finger out to her and she bumped it with her fist. Penn gave a fist pump of determination.

"We'll be the best team!"

* * *

Ever since, the quartet devoted their lives to fighting crime and saving the world in many different dimensions. After school, that is. They stuck together, fought together, stood up for each other, and were merely always there for each other.

They all had their parts to play. Boone was the "wiseman". Sashi was the "sidekick". Divergent was the "fairy guide". And of course, Penn was the leader and hero. Together, they were unbeatable. Completing every mission without a second to waste. The four were the best of friends and the "best team."

* * *

_(Penn: Wherever good is threatened, heroes rise to the challenge and always save the day!_

…_Except when they don't._

_And that's when I go to work_

_I zap into dimensions everyday, it's my job_

_Be a hero, save the world, and make things right_

_Kung-fu moles, rescue trolls, punch a zombie, score a goal!_

_I'm a robot, I'm a rabbit, I'm a knight_

_[Stretching, swinging, spying, flying, flipping, monster-kicking]_

_Boone, Verge, and Sashi always sticking by my side!_

_No villain's gonna stop…_

_[Penn Zero! Part-time hero!]_

_[Penn Zero! Part-time hero!]_

_[Penn Zero! Part-time hero!]_

_Penn Zero! Part-time hero!)_

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**How was the prologue? I know most people don't watch Penn Zero or make fanfics of it, but I wanted to be one of the firsts! Please review if I should continue or if it's a good fic so far. Remember, expect episodes from the show because I'm just going to be adding my OC in them! (Warning: There might be some scene changes). I might add some "special episodes" too!**

**Oh, by the way, if anyone wants to know additional information about Divergent the Fairy, read this to find out:**

**Full Name: Divergent (yep, that's it)**

**Nickname: Verge**

**Birthdate: Unknown (In Penn Zero World: September 1)**

**Hair Color: Brown**

**Eye Color: Blue**

**Skin Color: Pale**

**Hair Style: Pigtails**

**Appearance: Verge has pointy ears like a fairy and golden wings. She wears a blue, long-sleeved shirt with spiky edges, red skirt, and brown boots with golden accent (clothes are made out of leaves).**

**Personality: Verge is a cheerful, passionate, kind fairy that is also oblivious to most things, especially human culture. She sees herself as weak, so she does her best to prove herself strong. She cares about her human family and friends deeply, but she truly wishes to go back to her old dimension, even for just a little while. She has a tiny crush on Penn Zero, but not even knowing what crush is, the affection is mostly not noticeably displayed throughout the story (on fun days, she might even ship PennAshi). Verge does not have a temper, but she will show her other side to anyone who dares cross the line. Other than that, she is usually sweet and caring, and fun to hang around with. Her friendship with Penn, Boone, and Sashi matters most to her than anything.**

**Please let me know if it was good or not! Thanks. Hope y'all liked it! -Ridaa**


	2. North Pole Down

**Episode 1: North Pole Down**

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**I just happened to keep on writing the first few episodes while I was bored and decided to post them one by one. :)**

* * *

It was a day like no other in Knight World. Three certain heroes were currently on a dangerous mission. A knight approached a stone with a sword's hilt sticking out of it, his faithful wizard and elf friends following behind him.

"Guys, I know this mission was real tough," the knight said, reaching for the sword. "But times like this make it all worth it."

He eagerly pulled at the hilt… "Mission accom—" …and was surprised to get a spatula. "What?" He then moved on to the next stone. "OK, here we go. And—" Fly swatter. "—that's not a sword!" Next. "Mission ac—" Bouquet of flowers. "—come on! Why?!"

"Zero! What are you doing?" A fourth hero, a fairy, fluttered over to the red-haired knight. She looked angry.

"What? What? What did I do?"

"Didn't I tell you already? The magic sword wasn't in a stone—"

She was interrupted when a fire almost struck the four of them, burning the flowers. An evil laugh followed, and the fairy and knight looked up to see the evil sorcerer riding his dragon, holding the _real _sword and gazing down at the young heroes.

"She's right! The sword was in a couch, not a stone!" The knight glared at his enemy. "Open your mind, boy!" He laughed again and flew back to the castle.

"Hey! No one does a sword pull and a dragon barrel roll on my watch!" the knight shouted. "Boone! Wheel me!"

The knight, fairy, and elf all got on a catapult as the wizard used his magic to get it moving. The wheels turned on their own and the three headed straight for the castle.

But as they advanced, the evil troll guards attacked them with flaming arrows. The fairy flew upwards and used her protection magic to block them away. The elf easily caught one arrow, looking ready to kill with it.

A troll zoomed by and the knight got its axe. "I'm just gonna borrow this!" With the elf in the catapult, he raised the axe and sent her flying towards the castle. Using the arrow, she brought the villain's tower down and sent them straight into the moat.

"Go!" the fairy shouted, tossing the knight his shield. He grinned in gratitude before the catapult hit the wall and sent them both flying.

"Just gonna surf on the shield a little bit…there we go! Uh-oh, coming through! Sorry 'bout your face! Ooh, lava! …Stopped a landing and…put the magic sword back."

As soon as he did all those things, the Knight World was restored to its original cute and fluffy state. Evil was defeated. The four heroes reunited, grinning at each other.

"_Mission accomplished," _the fairy agreed.

"Quadruple fist bump!" They all bumped their fists together.

At that moment, there was a blue flash, the fairy disappeared, and the original knight, wizard, and elf were replaced again, wondering why they were in this position.

Meanwhile, back in their normal world, Penn, Boone, Sashi, and Verge came back in their old forms and clothes, their "boss" Phyllis waiting for them on the other side.

"I'm going to miss my face hair," Boone sighed.

"It's called a beard," Penn corrected.

"It is?" Verge asked. Sashi rolled her eyes at them.

"Yes, good work today children," Phyllis said in a bored tone. "Now get out."

The four friends left the Odyssey, confirming the end of their mission and job. Verge shrunk to a smaller size and fluttered around her friends. "Great mission today, huh guys?" Penn spoke up.

"Awesome," Verge agreed. "Anyone up for pizza? My treat."

"Where would you get the money?" Sashi asked.

"You're right!" The fairy reached into her leaf skirt pocket to reveal nothing. "Zero's treat!"

"Yeah! All right!" Boone cheered as he and Sashi followed Verge.

Penn laughed with him. "…Wait, you were serious?"

* * *

_~The next day~_

As the snow fell outside the window of the young hero's bedroom, Penn Zero was just waking up as he saw the whites fall upon the grounds of his home. He grinned and moved over to his desk to wake up his "little roommate".

Divergent the fairy was sleeping soundly in her little matchbox bed, snoring softly and peacefully in her sleep. There was no room for another bigger bed in Penn's room or in any part of the house so, being the fairy she always was, always slept in her tiny fairy size.

Now, the boy carefully tapped his best friend's soft, brown, pig-tailed hair. "Hey, Verge, get up!" he said.

The fairy only yawned and turned, pulling her handkerchief blanket closer to her body. "Five more minutes, Mrs. Zero," she said drowsily.

Penn only rolled his eyes at her, taking the handkerchief off. "Come on! It's Christmas Eve!"

"Merry Christmas Eve, then…"

Penn picked her up by the collar of her leaf shirt and shook her. "I know you like the holidays so much, so get up!"

Verge yawned again, now half-awake and hovered before her best friend. "Didn't think you'd be so cheerful, Zero. Since your parents aren't here to celebrate with us and all…" She was wide-awake now when she'd realize what she said. "Oh, wings, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

The red-haired boy only managed a small smile. "Hey, it's OK…I knew anyway. I wasn't going to forget…"

Verge frowned. She hated when she saw her friends sad. Especially her best and closest one. She flew to his shoulder and patted his cheek. "I miss them too…"

He chuckled lightly as they did a "tiny fist bump". "I know."

Verge smiled a bit at him. She was about to say something else, when they heard something outside. Penn opened the window and they looked up to see Sashi beating up a stuffed reindeer.

"Merry Christmas Eve, Sashi," Penn greeted. He and Verge jumped back when the reindeer's head fell right before them. Sashi appeared upside down before them and Penn stepped back a bit, looking terrified.

"Sashi!" Verge gasped, flying to the head. "How could you beat up a poor, innocent, reindeer? It did nothing to you!"

"Calm down, Verge," Sashi said, rolling her eyes playfully. "It's just stuffed."

"Excuse us fairies for caring about animals and nature so much." Verge huffed and flew back to Penn.

"Besides, there was something in this reindeer's eyes that I didn't trust. So I cut them out." She proudly handed over the reindeer's plastic eyes.

"Huh," Penn said awkwardly. "Neat."

Verge stroked the eyes sadly. "You had such a bright future ahead of you as a weird Christmas decoration…if only you could see that."

Sashi scoffed. "Fairies." With a smile, she disappeared.

"I'll never understand humans."

Penn lightly poked her jokingly. "Fairies are just as complicated, mind you."

Verge only giggled and flew over to his bed. "Well, since we were just talking about your parents…how's about calling them?"

Penn smiled. "Way ahead of ya." He sat down on his bed and Verge flew onto his lap. He brought his MUHU out and called Brock and Vonnie Zero.

"Hi!/What up?"

"Mom, Dad!" Penn started. "Merry Christmas!"

"We're knee-deep in a blood bath of chaos and fury," Brock said, punching lava sharks. "So we can't come to the MUHU right now."

Vonnie appeared and added, "But if you leave a message after the scream, we'll get right back to you." A shark tried to attack her but she kicked it away, causing it to shriek as it flew.

"That was the scream!" As the scene froze at another shark attacking, the words "Record Message" appeared.

"Hey, guys," Penn said. "Just thinking about you! Verge and I were, anyway—"

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Zero!"

"Yeah, that was her…on Christmas Eve. Not a big deal, just another day, that brings families together…except ours, for the first time…ever. 'Cause you're trapped in the Most Dangerous World Imaginable, which is worse for you than it is for me. Us. Probably. It's not a contest…I just, ah—"

"Get on with it, Zero, I want my turn."

"All right, all right…I just wanted to say—"

Suddenly, something went wrong with the MUHU. It started acting up and malfunctioning, causing the duo's eyes to widen.

"No. Oh, no. No! No, no, no…ah!"

"Well, that sucks," Verge groaned, kicking the MUHU.

"Do you think you can fix it?"

The fairy examined the gadget and shook her head. "Sorry, Zero. Fairies don't work well with technology. You know that, right? Maybe you can talk to Phyllis about it."

Penn only sighed in defeat. Verge frowned again. If only there was a way to cheer him up…

This fairy was not about to give up on her best friend. "I know it may seem bad now," she started.

Penn watched as the small fairy flew over to his closet and brought out his clothes out. "But you don't have to worry."

"Why?"

She set his clothes down and started dusting them. "You just have to remember one thing."

"What's that?"

Verge flew to him, transformed to her human size, and ruffled her best friend's hair. "You still got us!"

The boy laughed in agreement.

He got dressed, and the two of them proceeded to head downstairs. "Uncle Chuck, Aunt Rose," he started. "How's, uh—"

"Ta-da!" his uncle and aunt proclaimed. They stepped back to show Penn and Verge their creation. The two exchanged a glance and raised an eyebrow. It was a paranoma made entirely out of eggs.

"All the wonders of Christmas," Rose said proudly. "Lovingly sculpted in three pounds of scrambled pigeon eggs!"

To prove her point, their pet chinchilla took hold of Egg Santa's head, got disgusted, and spit it out. Penn got disgusted as well, but Verge only got "cuted out" and happily patted its fuzzy little head. When the chinchilla didn't cooperate, she fed it some chinchilla food and it warmed up to her again.

"What's wrong, Penn? Aren't you…egg-cited?!"

"I know I am," Boone agreed, taking a spoonful of eggs and taking a bite. "But I'd be bummed if this were my first Christmas without my parents who were trapped in a lost dimension—Ohhh, gosh! That's Penn's exact situation!" Sashi facepalmed at him.

"Cut it out, Boone," Verge sighed, knocking on his head. "He's had enough of this morning already."

"Ow. OK, but aren't you suffering too, Verge? They were your guardians after all."

"This is why I'm asking you to _shut up."_

"Eggball fight!" Chuck shouted, throwing a handful of eggs. It hit the chinchilla and it hissed in anger.

As Verge soothed it, Boone bothered to speak up again. "So, since you guys are so down in the dumps, I made a surprise for you, and it's outside the house."

"What is it?"

"You'll see!" The boy grinned as he covered Penn and Verge's eyes, guiding them.

"You guys got the Christmas blues…well, Professor Boone got the antidote!"

"OK, just hurry, 'cause your hands smell like eggs," Penn said.

Boone removed his hands. "Who needs parents when you have…skateboard sleds!" He revealed his creation: two decorated sleds atop two skateboards.

"Most people," Penn replied, testing out the skateboard sled. "Nice."

"The second one's for me?" Verge asked.

Boone rubbed his head awkwardly. "Uh, no. It's mine. I kinda figured you could just fly like you normally do, Verge."

"…Oh." Verge found herself staring down at the ground. It happened again. One of her friends taking advantage of her being a fairy and not treating her like they normally do others.

Penn noticed her sadness and frowned. He knew Verge's little problem. "It's OK, we can share, Verge," he offered, smiling. The fairy smiled back in gratitude.

"What about me, then?" Sashi asked.

"For you…I built a roller-skate ski. But the design proved flaw in testing. You see, it all started at the old testing hill. I initiated a takeoff procedure. All was going well until a slight malfunction. There was a fireball at some unfortunate placement of radioactive waste. And…the puppy monsters destroyed the city!"

"Oh no!" Verge gasped, wings puffing out in shock. "Those poor puppies!"

"You forgot to make her one, didn't you?"

"Affirmative."

"Learn to take a fake story, Verge," Sashi said.

"Fairies don't 'take fakes'."

"All right, I see what you guys are trying to do," Penn said. "But you don't have to worry about me. I'm just gonna, kinda, avoid Christmas this year."

"Consider Christmas erased," Sashi agreed. "With extreme prejudice!"

Verge got a sad look on her face as she faced her friend. "Avoid Christmas?" she asked. "But, even without your parents, didn't we always enjoy the holidays together?" Christmas was Verge's favorite holiday, and that was all because Penn always found a way to make things special.

"Yeah, yeah, of course we did, Verge!" Penn quickly said. "It's just…well, you understand, right?"

"Yeah…right…" She tried to cover up her disappointment. "Let's just get to work."

The other three nodded, got on the sleds, and headed for the Odyssey. "Hey, old man! Lose the Santa beard!" Sashi called out to someone on the way.

Once they arrived, they parked their sleds and looked over at the Fish Stick on a Stick store. Rippen and Larry were also getting ready to do their part-time villain jobs. Penn gave a little mock wave while Rippen only glared.

As Penn went to talk to Phyllis, Verge entered the place with Boone and Sashi. "I still don't get it," she thought aloud. "Rippen and Larry are just around the corner. Why can't we beat them up right now?"

"Oh, how I wish we could," Sashi grumbled.

"You gotta understand how this part-time business works, Verge," Boone said, all cool-like. "That's not how things roll. That's not how we jam. It could mess up some serious 'biz' here."

"As expected from the 'Wiseman'." Boone only smirked and ate more pigeon eggs.

When Phyllis couldn't fix the MUHU, she asked, "You are missing parents on Christmas?"

"What? Ah, me? No." Penn defended.

"Ah, he totally is, Phyllis," Boone said, mouth full. "You sure you don't want in on these pocket eggs?"

"Boone, gross," Verge said, dragging the two to the MUT. "Let's get going, come on!"

"Verge is right," Penn agreed. "Let's just get to work, all right? At least wherever you zap us, I won't have to think about Christmas."

Oh, he was so wrong.

* * *

When the heroes arrived at their dimension, Verge examined their forms. Boone was a reindeer and Sashi was an elf. Verge was still a fairy, as usual, in Christmas clothes. She appeared to be a Christmas fairy. **(A/N: Just for future clearance, Verge usually doesn't change her form. Fairies like her usually only change their clothes when they travel through dimensions. The forms only change when necessary.) **She also couldn't grow to human size at that time, but it was all right. She grinned, turned to Penn, and frowned.

"Uh, oh, boy," Boone said.

He had a white beard. Red clothes. A "big bowl full of jelly". Penn gasped at his appearance and collapsed on the ground.

"Noooooooohohohoho!"

"…Santa!" Verge cheered like a child.

Later, Boone was also giggling like a little reindeer. "OK. I want a magnet that attracts cool T-shirts instead of metal. Also! I want a dog that knows how to fly a jetpack. Also! I need a dog jetpack! Are you getting any of this?"

Annoyed, Penn pushed Boone of his lap, causing him to fall in the snow. "Ugh…of all the places."

"It's not _that_ bad, Zero," Verge said, hovering over him. "At least you get all the cookies!"

"Gee, thanks for looking on the bright side, Verge."

"Penn, are you OK?" Sashi asked.

"I'll be fine, Sash. Can we just—" He moved his body, causing his belly to bump into Sashi and send her flying. "Ooh, sorry."

"Careful, Santa!" Boone scolded.

"What was that?" The same thing happened to him. "Sorry!"

"Hey, hey, calm down!" Verge said, flying to Penn's shoulder to avoid getting bumped. "You need to focus. I know you're stressed, but things will get better in the end. You'll see!"

Penn had to smile. "Thanks, Verge."

"Your fairy guide is always here! Just don't hit me with your stomach."

"OK, let's just get this over with. Sash, check the Specs."

The Japanese elf got out of the snow, rolling her eyes. "All right, you're filling in for Santa. The elves have gone missing, and there's a major blizzard coming at midnight. If we don't get the sleigh launched before then…" She gasped. "Christmas will be cancelled!"

Then, Boone started freaking out. _"Christmas…cancelled?!"_

When he started hyperventilating, Penn came to the rescue. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, breathe into the Santa hat, Boone. Breathe. There you go, nice and easy. OK, I'm gonna pet you now but not in a weird way."

Verge, being the animal-loving fairy she is, was even "cuted out" by Boone's panicking. She flew right over and nuzzled his head. "Aw, it's all right, Boone! Everything's going to be fine! Carrot?"

"Yes, please." Once the reindeer was relaxed, he sighed and let Verge continue to pet him.

"Where do you keep getting all this animal food?" Penn asked curiously.

"I don't tell you everything! Now, let's get going. I think we might find some clues at the workshop."

The three agreed and they all headed for it. "Watch your backs," Sashi warned. "We don't know what we're gonna find here."

"Ready, Boone?" Verge asked, sitting on his head. The reindeer nodded.

He charged, and knocked the door down. He gasped at what he saw.

The place was a wreck. Toys were scattered all over the floor. Christmas wrapping paper was torn in places. The entire place was completely ransacked. "This wasn't some turtle doves blowing off steam," Sashi said. "We're dealing with pros."

"Says the expert," Verge mumbled, graving over some poor teddy bear that had some candy canes sticking out of it. She looked around and found more stuffed toys and animals broken.

"Mama…" a poor baby doll's voice called out, walking to the heroes to reveal its headless body.

Sashi rolled over to a wall where some icing was stuck to it. She had a lick and sneered. "Peppermint…"

"Who would do such a thing?" Verge asked, flying around and looking for survivors.

"I don't know," Penn admitted. He helped her look around. "Hello? Dumpy? Gassy? Floppy? Snazzy?"

"Those are dwarves," Sashi deadpanned. "Not elves."

"Well, they're still small and adorable."

"So, Divergent?" Verge jokingly added, flying back.

Penn rolled his eyes playfully. "Nice try, Verge."

"Still though. Am I right or am I right?"

Before Penn could respond, he was interrupted by a sound. It was coming from inside a box. It kept jumping, as if whatever was inside wanted to get out.

"Don't open that box," Boone warned.

"I'm opening that box," Penn said.

"Don't open that box!"

"I'm opening the box, Boone!"

And Penn did. What was inside…was a snowman's head.

It screamed. Everyone screamed. It screamed. Everyone screamed. The cycle kept on repeating. Verge and Sashi got out of it first. "This is getting old," Verge said.

Sashi sighed. "Everyone, stop screaming!"

"…"

Boone screamed one last time. "…Sorry."

Penn took the snowman head out of the box. "P-Please don't melt me!" it pleaded.

"No one's gonna melt you," Penn promised.

"As long as you talk," Sashi said, bringing out a hair blower. The snowman yelped.

"Whoa, whoa, Sashi!" Verge said, holding out tiny hands in front of her. "No violence yet! Come on, loosen up." She reluctantly put the blower away.

"I-I'll tell you everything. They came in the night. The menace of the North Pole. The sugary shadows. The rogue…Gingerbread Army!"

"That sounds…delicious!" Penn and Boone giggled. "You were right, Verge, I'd be getting all the cookies!"

"We should get going then," Sashi said. "Let's move!"

She, Boone, and the snowman head went ahead and left the workshop. Penn started to follow, but Verge had other ideas.

She flew before him, stopping him and getting a stern look. "Hold up, Zero," she said. "There's something in this snowman's eyes I don't trust…"

"OK, one, you're starting to sound like Sash. Two, how can you, they're made of coal. And three, what are you talking about? He's going to help us."

"Trust me, Penn, if there's one thing I remember in the past life I don't remember having is to never trust a man without a head. And in this case, a man made out of snow and without a body."

But Penn only waved it away. "Aw, you're just exaggerating, Verge. We'll complete this mission like we always do! What's a head going to do to get in the way of that?"

"Maybe not the head, but think of the _body!_ I think his eyes are not the only ones made of coal!"

"Guys, what are you doing?" Sashi called. "Get a move on!"

"We're coming!" Penn took hold of Verge's shirt collar and placed her on his shoulder. "It's gonna be fine, Verge. Trust _me_ on this."

The fairy stayed silent. She really didn't at the moment, she couldn't argue with Penn at this point.

They arrived at the gingerbread base. As they hid in a pine tree, Sashi inspected the internal area. "Whoa," she said. "They're packing some heavy artillery."

"That's awesome," Verge echoed.

"Don't you mean that's 'bad'?" Boone asked.

"What's artillery again?"

"Let's just break in!" Sashi interrupted.

The five of them managed to get in the weapon's room and started stacking up. Penn and Sashi got everything they needed. Even Verge had a candy cane staff to herself.

"OK," Sashi stood on Boone, ready to give the plan. "We smash through the front door, candy canes a-blazing, and smoke those cookies!"

"Sounds good to me!" Verge said, ready to fly.

"Or," the snowman head piped up. "I know a secret back entrance. We rescue the elves, and take the gingers by surprise!"

"Wrong! Villains always have the back entrance covered."

"Maybe for Christmas, I'll get you a dictionary so you can look up what secret means!"

"Maybe I'll get you a waffle iron and stick you in it!"

"Guys, no fighting!" Verge said, flying in between them. "Save it for the cookies will you?"

Penn nodded. "Guys, I—" he started, but suddenly dropped the MUHU.

As he bent to pick it up, the snowman said, "Don't worry. The elves are the greatest tinkerers in the world. If we save them first, I'm sure they'll have time to fix…whatever that thing is."

Penn hesitated. "You know, I think the snowman's plan makes more sense. We do this right, we fix the MUHU, _and_ save Christmas!"

"Ugh, fine," Sashi groaned, heading out with Boone and the snowman head.

"Penn, I _really _don't know about this," Verge stated. "What if it's a tr—"

"Come on, we're not having this conversation again!" Penn sighed, brushing past her.

Verge frowned. Penn never ignored her. He was really dead set on fixing that MUHU. She reluctantly followed the others.

They were now at the back entrance, which was guarded by two gingerbread guards, which Sashi immediately got out of the way. By cutting their hands and heads off, they were able to get in.

"Doesn't feel so good, does it?" the snowman sighed.

The team managed to make it in a few steps. But they apparently weren't good at hiding.

Verge heard a voice. "Get them!" Rippen shouted.

The army sprang into action, but so did the heroes. Sashi took down gingers with her candy cane nun-chucks. Boone charged at the cookies. Verge went all ninja-fairy style and hit them with her staff. Even Penn got some soldiers all tied up.

But there were too many of them. They attacked and shot from above, completely outnumbering them. Verge deflected all the shots with her protection magic. "Run!" she shouted,

The heroes took off, staying under Verge's shield. "Take cover, you guys!" Penn shouted, "It's a candy barrage!"

Once they finally got under safe covers, Verge sighed. "Made it!"

"Wait, wait!" Penn suddenly said. "Where's my MUHU?"

"Wait, is that it?" the snowman asked, catching a glint in his eye. "Rolling down there?"

Penn didn't even hesitate. "That's it!" He took off towards the glint, his companions following.

But Verge wasn't fooled. "Penn, no!" she screamed. "We've never even gone down this hall—"

It was too late. She felt cookie-like hands get ahold of her and stuff her in a tiny cage. She pulled at the bars but they wouldn't budge.

She looked up to glare ay her capturer, and saw Gingerbread Rippen. "Hello, little fairy," he sneered. He walked further down the hall.

Verge was horrified to find her friends trapped in a cage much bigger than hers. She was also shocked (not really) to see the snowman's head now with a body. "I see you've met my associate, Mr. Snowman."

"Verge!" Penn shouted.

"Zero!" Verge cried out, tugging at the bars even more. Rippen went a boredly threw her cage through the large holes of the bigger cage. Penn caught her immediately and held her to his chest.

"Your friend was right, you know," the snowman chuckled. "It's not just my eyes that are made out of coal." He reached into his snowy chest and pulled out an indeed, coal-shaped heart. He chuckled again, and then started wheezing. "Bad idea! Leave. Coal. Heart. In Chest!"

"No cookies and milk this year, Santa," Rippen taunted. _"Christmas is cancelled."_

* * *

The gingerbread army left the trapped heroes in the workshop again, the big cage hanging above all the gifts. Verge and Sashi were doing their best to get her out of her cage.

"If I could just…get out…get the keys…" Verge wheezed. She wasn't exactly tired, but flaming angry at Rippen for trying to ruin her favorite holiday _and_ trap her and her friends in cages. "If there's one thing fairies _do not like_, it's being trapped in a stupid, small, close-cornered—"

"Whoa, Verge, calm down," Boone said. "You're starting to act like Sashi." That sentence received a hit to the antlers."

Penn, however, was suffering more. "I'm a terrible part-time hero. I owe you guys an apology…especially you, Verge. I shouldn't have ever doubted you. And I trusted a snowman's head over you guys because I wanted to get the MUHU fixed."

Verge finally stopped raging and frowned at Penn. "Aw, Zero… That's not…entirely true…"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Sashi added.

"Yeah," Boone agreed. "There's nothing more depressing than a sad Santa. Expect for like, maybe an Easter Bunny who's lost his hop. Or a Tooth Fairy with a cavity. Or a dead Leprechaun—"

"We get it!" Sashi interrupted.

Penn sighed, which made Verge want to comfort him more. She moved her tiny cage closer to him (tried to, anyway) and tugged at his Santa shirt. "Hey, Zero, it's—"

"I'm sorry, Verge. I couldn't trust you. My oldest friend…I couldn't listen to you. I should've thought about you first…I'm sorry."

That only made Verge feel guilty. "I know what you did, Zero. I'm sorry too. I know you wanted to talk to your parents."

"Don't make an excuse. _I _was wrong."

"Yes…but, Penn…your parents might not be here…but we still are!"

"She's right," Sashi agreed. "We know it's been hard. But you gotta remember. Your parents aren't the only ones that care about you."

Verge smiled as she propped herself onto Penn's lap. "You don't need a MUHU to know where your loved ones are." She pointed at his chest. "They'll always be in there."

"…My heart?"

"Oh, is that what those cliché movies were talking about? I thought they were just crazy!"

Penn finally laughed. He hugged Verge's cage. "You're the best fairy guide, Verge."

"No problem. Just be sure you actually follow my _guidance_ next time."

"Sure." He turned to Boone and Sashi. "Thanks too guys. I feel a lot better. Except for the part about ruining Christmas for all eternity. That's gonna bother me for a while."

"We've got ten minutes before the blizzard," Sashi said. "We can still get that sleigh in the air!"

"She's right!" Verge said. "If there's one thing I learned for the past eight years is to always have hope and never give up!"

"Well, yeah, but what do we do about the cage?"

"Penn," Boone started. "If there's one thing I learned from watching Christmas specials is that you could do anything if you have enough Christmas spirit!"

Verge suddenly realized what he was going too do and turned her cage to her is horror. "Don't tell me," she graved.

"Yes."

"Don't do it."

"I'm gonna do it."

"Don't do it, Boone, I'm warning you!"

"_~Because…~"_

"Wiseman!"

_~We may be stuck here in a Christmas cage_

_And Gingerbread Rippen's got us trapped backstage_

_But there's Christmas magic in the air_

_And I've got to yuleiest yuletide song to share~_

Suddenly, magical green dust started filling the air and bringing the toys around to life. "It's working, Boone!" Sashi exclaimed. "Keep singing."

_~Oh, we're breaking out of here for Christmas_

_This cage has got no sugarplums and dance_

_It doesn't have Wi-Fi or even have a toilet_

_It's kinda weird that I'm not wearing pants~_

The toys were cleaning up the gifts and tossing them through a Christmas wreath hoop, stacking them up one by one. Verge groaned at all this. Penn patter her cage in comfort. Even Sashi started singing:

_~Yes, we're breaking out of here for Christmas_

_I won't be trapped by cages, bars, or walls_

_When I get out, I'll make the bad guys pay_

_I'll punch and fight and kick them in the…knees~_

"Come on, Divergent!" Boone encouraged. "You know you want to!"

The fairy sighed. There's no use arguing.

_~Yeah, we have to get out of here for Christmas_

_This tiny cage won't bring my spirits down_

_But even if this fake magic won't work_

_At least I still got all my friends around~_

The three smiled. "That's the spirit!" Boone cheered.

A Christmas Wreath Man was starting to come to life. The toys were nearly done and it was Penn's turn.

_~You can bet we're breaking out for Christmas_

_It'd be easier if I were in better shape. Ho ho!_

_So kids you better nestle up snug in your beds~_

They all sang together

_~'Cause Christmas…'~_

The toys finished packing the toys.

_~…will be saved…~_

The candy cane the Wreath Man had also came to life and made its way to the cage.

_~…when we escape!~_

The candy cane twisted in the keyhole…and broke. All the toys stopped moving.

"Hm," Penn said. "I thought that would turn out better."

"Told you guys it wouldn't work," Verge gloated.

"Really thought you'd be the happy, singing type of fairy, Verge," Boone said.

"Don't take fairies so lightly!"

"When we get out of here," Sashi said. "I will literally wipe the smiles off their faces!"

"Guys, don't give up yet all right? Think of more ideas. There's gotta be _something._ Then again, says the fairy in the _enclosed cage."_

"You'll get out soon, Verge. Don't worry…"

They all hesitated, thinking hard. Penn was looking at something and that seemed to strike something.

"Wait, just wait one minute. OK, when I was little, my parents told me that Santa could slide through any chimney, no matter how small."

"Oh, yeah!" Verge piped. "They told me that too! I didn't believe them."

"I know right?" Boone and Sashi weren't catching on. "Hello? I'm Santa! All we need to do is make a chimney, and I can slide right through it, baby!"

"Worth a shot."

Penn got a roll of wrapping paper from the gift stack and stuck it through the cage hole.

"There's our chimney!" He tried sticking his head in but it didn't work. He prepared to jump. "Santa, away!" No luck. He just landed flat on his face. Verge was trying severely hard not to laugh. "Not funny, Divergent."

"It's not working," Sashi said blankly. "You've looked cooler."

"Maybe it only works if you go full Santa," Boone suggested. "You know, like putting a toy under a tree from your sack. It's like my drama teacher says: 'Commit or quit'."

"Worth another shot."

Penn and Sashi sprang to action. Sashi started to fold some wrapping paper together. Once she was done, she'd made an origami Christmas tree.

"Nice skills," Verge commented. Sashi gave a thumbs up and set the tree out the cage.

"Well, ho ho ho, through the chimney I go!" Penn leaped through the wrapping paper chimney, and it worked this time. He came out a rolled-up Santa.

"That hurt…so much!" he groaned. Puffing himself back to rolly-polly self, he landed on the ground perfectly and placed the gift under the tree.

"Yes!" Boone and Sashi cheered.

"Go Zero!" Verge praised. "Now, _get us out!"_

Penn got the keys that were hanging from the wall. He opened the big cage and let Boone and Sashi out. Then he got Verge's cage and let her out. The fairy immediately spread her wings and flew out, laughing.

"Freedom!" she cried out, flying rapidly around her friends.

"Trapped like a bird there, weren't you, Verge?" Sashi called teasingly.

Verge only laughed more. No more tiny cages for her. She held her hands up and the green dust from earlier was produced, instead of her glowing golden dust. Her friends gasped when they saw some of the Christmas toys come back to life. Instead of preparing gifts, they formulated their own artilleries.

"Being a Christmas fairy pays off!" Penn smirked. Verge bowed and rejoined the three.

"Quadruple fist bump!"

"Let's do this!" Penn cheered.

Boone then charged for the blocked doors. He charged and charged until he made it through. The gingerbreads gasped. "Don't tell Mom," he said. "But I'm about to ruin my dinner!" He charged again and the gingerbreads screamed and ran away from him.

Verge raised her hands up again, green dust flowing and causing the entrances to open up again. Behind the screens, the nutcrackers had catapults ready to attack. "Fire fruitcakes…at will!" Penn commanded.

The toys obeyed. The gingerbreads got more riled up and started attacking back.

Verge was helping in the fight. She used her candy cane staff and hit gingerbreads back and forth. She was also using her nature magic and flooded the gingers with snow. That's when she noticed something hanging. "Zero!" she called out.

"The elves!" Penn broke out into a run. The gingerbreads tried to stop him but he tripped, causing him to curl up into a ball and knock the soldiers down like a bowling ball.

Sashi went and joined the two but something was blocking them. "Watch out, guys! There's enough frosting in here to blast you all the way to Valentine's Day!" Larry said.

"How are you gonna pull that trigger?" Penn asked. "You ate all your fingers."

While, he was distracted, Verge crept away from them. "Guilty as charged," Larry giggled. "They were all different flavors! Caramel, chocolate, hazelnut—" He cut himself off when Sashi hit him on the back of the head with a candy cane.

"Man, that guy can talk," she said.

The elves cheered once Verge had freed them. "Thanks, Santa!" one elf said. "We were trapped in there for hours—"

He was also cut off and knocked out by Sashi. "No more speeches!" she threatened.

"No more hitting," Verge warned.

"Sashi, you and those little elves get the reindeer," Penn said. "Boone, Verge, and I…we got the sleigh!"

Everyone got moving. But something was blocking the three of them again. Mr. Snowman took his arm off and waved it. "Snowing somewhere?"

Penn went and started rearranging and rebuilding his snow. "Santa power!" When he'd finished, he smirked proudly. "Snailed it!"

"Haha, nice!" Verge laughed.

She and Boone went ahead and Verge used her dust to bring the sleigh out and attach Boone to it. Penn immediately hopped in the sleigh, Verge flying over him.

"You gotta get us to that launch platform!" Penn said. Boone looked up and tried to pull, but the sleigh wouldn't budge.

"I got this," Verge offered. She flew towards Boone again and touched his antlers. The magic flowed, helping him start the magic in him. Soon, he was flying on his own.

"Reindeer up!" Boone cried out. "…Reindeer going back down… Ah, I'm just going to run the rest of the way. Or maybe fast-walk."

"Go, Boone!" Verge encouraged, tiny fist bumping with Penn.

"Christmas!" he shouted. "You. Are. Saved!"

Suddenly, Gingerbread Rippen appeared before them. Penn and Verge gasped. "You forgot your cookie," he sneered.

He tackled Penn, making them roll onto the big sack of toys. "Verge! Take control!" Penn called out as he fought.

Verge quickly flew to Boone. "Can't you go any faster?" she shouted.

"Maybe I could if I had more reindeer! Which I don't! Or, you know, a stronger body! Either way, the answer is no! No, I can't!"

What to do, what to do…Verge went to the road and used her magic again. This time, she made a road of snow and ice among the sleigh tracks. It wasn't too slippery and slidey, which made the sleigh even easier to pull. Grinning, she went back to Boone and used more magic green dust to accelerate Boone's speed.

"Woo-hoo!" he cheered. "This is so much easier now!"

"We have two minutes left!" Verge shouted. "No time for going easy! Giddyup!"

Boone ran faster. They were almost at the platform! Penn immediately took the reins once he'd finished dealing with Rippen. But Verge noticed him hanging by the edges of the sleigh. She flew to him and glared.

"Give it up, Rip," she said. "Christmas _will _continue."

Suddenly, she saw him take out something buzzing from his pocket. It was the MUHU. Before she could alert Penn, Rippen took hold of the fairy with his other hand. Verge let out a yelp.

Penn turned and gasped at his trapped friend. "Verge!" He also saw the MUHU and his eyes widened.

"Uh-oh," Rippen said, letting the buzzing of his parents' call sound out. "If I drop this, it'll shatter on the ice and you'll never speak to your parents again."

"Let it go, you coward!" Verge shouted.

Rippen just gave an evil smile. "As for the fairy, perhaps I'll pluck both her wings out and make her fall into the snow, along with your silly little gadget."

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me!" He laughed and turned back to Penn. "Forget Christmas. Turn the sleigh around and I'll give you back your precious MUHU and friend."

Penn was alarmed. He'd really lose his family now if he didn't obey Rippen. He hesitated and looked upwards. Sashi had gasped at the scene.

Verge struggled in Rippen's hand. The MUHU continued to buzz. Rippen only sneered when Penn stared in horror. He didn't know what to do.

But the fairy only smiled. "It'll be all right, Zero. Don't worry about me!" With that, she bit into Rippen's hand. Or, more like, she ate it all.

"Gah!" He tried reaching for her again, but no hand.

Penn smirked happily at Verge and turned back to Rippen. "No deal," he declared. "The world needs Christmas."

At those words, Boone jumped. Penn and Verge ducked while icicles attacked Rippen. He fell off the sleigh, yelling. Verge watched the MUHU fall off his hand.

"I got it!" she declared, flying after it.

"Verge, no!" Penn shouted. But it was too late. She and the gadget disappeared within the snow, nowhere to be found anymore. The MUHU was still buzzing.

Until Penn heard nothing at all.

"Verge!" he screamed again. Was she alive? He was too far away to hear the flutter of her wings. Where was she?

He didn't get any response after that.

The sleigh had finally arrived at the launch platform and the reindeer were quickly attached by the elves. A large, dark storm cloud was quickly approaching them. "It's almost midnight!" Sashi cried. "Hit it!"

Boone used to Christmas magic in his antlers as he and the other reindeer took off. At the final edge, they leaped and took the sleigh off into the sky.

But the blizzard was nearing. It came closer and closer. Would they make it? The elves could only stare.

The blizzard slowed down and…

…the sleigh came right out it.

The elves cheered from the North Pole, happy and delighted that Christmas was indeed saved.

"You did it!" Boone shouted. "You saved Christmas!"

"Way to go, PZ!" Sashi cheered. That's when she noticed something. "Where's Verge?"

Penn was too shocked to be sad. "She…she flew after the MUHU…"

"She what?"

"She…she didn't even think…she just went after it. Why would she do that?"

Sashi frowned. "Because she knew it mattered to you."

Her words from the cage echoed in Penn's head. _Remember. Your parents aren't the only ones that care about you._

"I…I can't believe it."

Sashi patted his arm. "If we know Verge well, then we know that she wouldn't get killed by snowfall that easily. I believe she'll be all right."

"She's probably gonna zap back home with us!" Boone called out.

Penn only frowned. "I hope you guys are right…"

And they did get zapped. The blue flash came and the three heroes got home.

* * *

Once they arrived, they looked around to see if the missing member came back with them. No such luck.

"This is the first time we zapped back home as a trio," Boone said sadly. "Not a quartet."

No one wanted to reply to that. As he and Sashi started going back home, Penn went straight to Phyllis. "Is Verge alive? Please tell me she's not dead."

"She's not dead," Phyllis said bluntly.

That lifted a weight in Penn's heart. "Then why didn't she zap back?"

"That is something I cannot tell you."

"What do you mean you can't tell me? She's my best friend, I need to—"

"Sometimes, hero must make hard choice. That is what makes them hero."

Penn didn't understand what that was all about until he later realized she was talking about the MUHU. At the thought of his parents' call slipping from his fingers, he could only be sadder more.

* * *

Back at home, Penn was staring at a picture frame. It was he when he was younger and when he was with his parents.

"Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad," he mumbled.

Then, he reached for another picture. This time, it was he at age ten with a year-younger Divergent the fairy beside him. Or, more like on top of him. Verge was sitting, small-sized, on Penn's fluffy red hair. The two were laughing together, as if they've done this all the time, happy to have each other. Penn had to smile at the memory.

"Stay safe, Divergent," he added.

The boy knew in his heart that his friend was alive. He refused to believe someone like Verge could die so easily. He trusted her.

As the hours went by, Penn didn't realize how late it had gotten. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

* * *

_~The next day~_

It was now Christmas morning. Penn woke up on the couch in the same position he was last night, the two frames still in his hands. He rubbed at his eye and sat up. There was nothing under the Christmas tree. Then again, what did he expect?

Penn sighed and leaned back. That's when he noticed something else. The origami Christmas tree Sashi made was standing behind the real one. And under it was a gift-wrapped box.

Inside, he heard a noise. Like someone was sleeping. Someone was snoring softly. He knew those soft snores anywhere. He practically grew up hearing them.

Penn eagerly opened the gift and was overjoyed to see lying there in the Styrofoam was a certain brown-haired fairy.

"Verge!" he cried out. The fairy opened one eye.

"Huh? What?" Without waiting for her to wake up fully, Penn plucked her from the box and gave her a big fairy hug.

"Oh, you small and adorable fairy, you!" he laughed. "You scared me to death back there!"

Verge only chuckled. "Missed you too, Zero."

"What were you thinking? You didn't have to follow to MUHU."

"'Course I had to! Otherwise, I wouldn't have talked to the elves and have Santa bring you this!"

Verge picked the box up and held it out. That's when Penn noticed the note attached:

_To Penn,_

_You dropped something._

_Santa_

"You're the best, Verge," he said, smiling at her. "I was too focused on talking to my parents…I should've remembered you were my family too."

That made Verge grin and grow to human-size. "You're welcome, Penn," she said, hugging him.

As she pulled away, she smirked. "So, we're gonna talk to them or what?"

As if on cue, the MUHU beeped in Penn's hand. He grinned his widest grin.

They sat beside each other on the couch and answered the call.

"Hey, you two!" Brock said through the MUHU. "Glad we finally got through!" Penn and Verge exchanged a happy glance.

"I'll deck your halls!" Brock shouted at a Christmas tree monster.

"Merry Christmas, sweethearts," Vonnie cooed, picking a rock up. "I hope you two have been taking care of each other! Jingle Bell Rock!" She threw the rock at more monsters.

The two laughed. Penn's aunt and uncle came in and gave them both presents. Boone and Sashi also arrived, smiling at them.

As Penn's parents fought, Verge brought out a wrapped gift from her pocket. "Merry Christmas, Zero."

Penn took it gratefully and handed over his own hand-wrapped gift. "Merry Christmas, Verge."

The two smiled as they fist-bumped.

The family stayed together that day, spending their Christmas in peace. And of course, with each other.

* * *

**Only 19+ episodes to go!**


	3. Chicken or Fish?

**Episode 2: Chicken or Fish?**

* * *

Verge was bored. Fairies don't normally get bored. But now, she had been bored for eight hours straight. She had been waiting for Penn, Boone, and Sashi to come back from school.

Usually, as said, Penn always brought the fairy to school in his pocket or kept her in his bag. But after Rippen caught them cheating on a test once, he secretly forbade Penn from bringing her again on test days. And today was one of those days.

The fairy lay on her roommate's large bed, tossing a small marble in the air. When was school going to end?

She suddenly bolted upright when she heard the door swing open. Her eyes lit up. "Hey, Verge," Penn greeted, grinning as he set his bag down. "Miss me?"

"Zero! Finally!" Verge flew off the bed and around Penn. "What took you so long?"

"History test took longer than expected." Penn sighed.

"You're looking cheerful. Think you aced it?"

"Nope!"

"Well, either way, where's Boone and Sashi?"

"Outside. The rest of the school day was _so boring."_

"Then let's kick _after-school _a little up a notch!" Verge pumped her tiny fist in the air and sped out the door. Penn grinned, trailing after her.

The fairy found her other friends two friends right outside their house. Before they could greet her, she shouted, "Last one to the Odyssey is a fish stick! On a stick!"

Laughing, the four raced towards their part-time jobs.

Since Verge had the head start and the wings, she was obviously in the lead. She reached the Odyssey first. When she did, she grew to her human size. Penn got surprised and skidded to a halt. He bumped into her. Sashi bumped into him. Boone bumped into her, and fell on the ground. Everyone laughed together.

"Verge, you cheat!" Boone laughed, as she helped him up. She stuck her tongue out playfully.

Penn went and held the door for them. "Who's the best team?"

"We're the best team!" Sashi replied.

"Who's the best team?"

"We're the best team!" Verge quickly shrunk to give him a tiny fist bump.

"Who's the best team?!"

"We're the best team!" Boone gave him a giant hug.

"Is very nice to see you getting along and making happy times," Phyllis said from above them.

"Yeah, well," Penn said. "I mean, I don't wanna throw around the term 'Dream Team', but, uh—"

"Was not talking to you. Was talking to them."

Verge flew over to her and was shocked to see a scorpion and a frog facing each other. They were later devoured by a giant tarantula. "Survival of the fittest is a cruel thing," she said sadly. Sashi petted her shoulder comfortingly.

"OK," Phyllis said, starting the MUT. "Today I send to world where something very fishy is going on."

"Fishies!" Verge chirped childishly.

"Ah," Penn chuckled. "Let me guess. Ocean World? Right? I wonder what we're going to _sea." _He chuckled again, turning to Sashi and Verge. "Like the ocean? Anybody?"

"I don't get it," Verge said blankly.

"…Do fairies have a weak sense of humor, Verge?"

"No. It just takes a while for us to understand human jo—Ohhh, I get it now!"

Penn rolled his eyes playfully. "Boone?"

There was no response. "Earth to Boone?" he tried again, waving a hand in front of his face. Still nothing. Penn turned to Verge, raising an eyebrow. She shrugged, having no idea.

Phyllis went and zapped them to the dimension before they even knew it.

* * *

As soon as Verge opened her eyes, she stared in awe at the many wonders of the world under the sea. Everything was so different than it was from above. And there were "wingless fairies with tails instead of wings." And then something struck her.

She looked down at her form. She was one of those tailed ones too! She marveled at her new blue and red fish tail, golden fins, and silver spear. Was she a soldier? She then looked behind her and found her wings.

"Awesome!" she cried out.

"Mer-fairy, huh?" Sashi's voice said. Verge turned to find her smirking in her new form. "Didn't think that was possible."

"Well, it doggone is!" Verge flew around Sashi. "Now, I can fly _and_ swim!"

"That's amazing!" Penn's voice called. He was swimming over to the girls, even more pumped up about his own form. "But not as amazing as _these! _You see these fin hands! My high-fives are going to be amazing!"

To prove his point, he, Verge, and Sashi all did a high-five. A large sonic boom wave sounded out through the sea.

"This world is so cool!" Verge agreed as she and Penn started swimming around. "I'm a _mer-fairy_. How big an honor is that?!"

"And I'm the prince, baby! Total coolness!"

Verge clapped her fin hands together. "Everyone here is part animal! That's so adorable!"

"Easy on the cuteness, Verge, it's not 'manly-like'."

"Don't you mean 'fishly-like'?" She and Penn laughed lightly.

"Guys," Sashi called. "Come on. Should we look for Boone?"

"Yeah, he's probably part of the mission," Penn said as he and Verge were playing with their forms. "Check the Specs!"

"OK. The full-time prince couldn't unlock the war trident—"

"I'm sure all the words you're saying are important!" Penn called as he started swimming in circles. Verge swam over to Sashi to pay more attention.

"We have to unlock the trident, and use it to protect Oceanaquariapolis."

"Oceanthethingalapoly. Got it!"

"No, Oceanaquariapolis."

"Like I said," Penn said, his head all bloated up. Verge went and shrunk it back down.

Sashi was just as annoyed. "…From the evil Octopus people. Are you paying attention?"

"No," Verge said. "No, he's not."

"Yeah, guys!" Penn assured. "Unlock the trident, protect Oceanapopaloo, fight Octopus people. Did you see my butt fin?" Penn playfully wrapped himself around Sashi, and she glared.

Verge pulled Penn right off her. "Come on, Zero. Let's stay alert. I know this world is cool, but we're on a mission!"

"Hey, I know what I'm doing! Chill!"

"Really? Then how do you explain that?"

Verge pointed downwards. That's when Penn and Sashi noticed the mermaids, they were swimming around in circles, all screaming and panicking.

"We're swimming in circles because everyone else is!" a mermaid shouted.

Penn and Sashi gasped. "Might have dodged a bullet there."

"See? We gotta calm them."

"No," Sashi said. "We have to get them to fight back!" As soon as she said that, the mermaid soldiers started preparing their spears for attack.

"Well, I trust you with that, Sash," Verge said, giving a salute. "Anyway, we gotta get the trident."

Suddenly, two mermaids came over to them. "Sire!" the first said. "We heard you fled."

"Well, you heard wrong, fair maiden!" Penn said.

"…I am a man."

"…That's OK, I was talking to her."

"I am also a man," the second said.

Penn hesitated. "Awkward," Verge coughed.

"Just get him the trident!" Sashi commanded.

"We can't," the first said.

"Look," Penn said, swimming to them. "I'm sorry, I thought you were both ladies. It's your full lips and eye make-up." Verge suddenly heard some sort of beeping. "But now's not the time to make it a thing."

"Zero—" Verge tried calling.

"We can't get the trident because it's sealed with a magical enchantment," the second explained. "Only the Wise One can open it."

"Zero…"

"OK," Penn said. "What Wise One-? What is that noise?!"

"Penn!" Verge shouted. The two mermaids pointed at the seashell phone by his belt. Verge shrunk to small mer-fairy size and swam right over. She took the phone and held it out.

"Oh, thanks," Penn opened the shellphone and found Boone, in a crab's form, at the screen.

"_~I'm just hanging out, not doing anything important~" _he sang to himself. Penn and Verge exchanged a glance.

"Boone?" Penn said. "Uh, you butt-dialed me."

Boone looked around for Penn's voice and found his phone screen. "Oh, hey, Penn. Huh. Must have butt-dialed you."

"Are you serious?" Verge asked.

"Hey, Vergie. Cool, you're a mer-fairy! Awesome."

"Thanks. Is it possible to not know if you butt-dialed someone?"

"Sure! Wait…where _is _my butt?"

"Uh, yeah, ah," Penn said. "I'd love to help you find your butt, but right now we're getting ready to fight like a _million octopuses!"_

Boone only smiled. "Nice. Boone out—"

"No! No, Boone not out! Get down here!"

"Negatory, my man. I am handling a bunch of important stuff right now."

"Oh, yeah, what stuff?"

"Wiseman stuff."

"It sounds like he's making a sand castle," Verge said blankly as she listened to his background. Penn gritted his teeth in anger.

"Look," Boone said. "You're the hero, dude. You got this."

"Boone," Penn started slowly. "We need you to unlock the trident—"

"Uh-oh, oh no, Penn!" Fake static sounds. "Oh no, you're dropping out!" More fake noises.

Penn and Verge deadpanned. "He's kidding, right?" Verge said.

"No. No he's not…I can see you making that noise with you mouth."

"No you can't." Boone said. "Take care of him, Verge!" More fake static sounds and Boone disappeared from the screen.

Penn frantically pressed the buttons on his phone. "Boone!" he shouted. "I can't believe he hung up on me!"

"Zero!" Verge called. Another shellphone suddenly struck him to the face.

Penn examined it, and realized it came from above. "I think I know where Boone is," he said. "Sash, can you handle things down here for a second?"

"I will turn the ocean red with the blood of my enemies!" she declared.

"Uh, 'yes' would've been fine."

"Oh. Then, yes."

"I'm coming with," Verge said.

"'Course," Penn said. "I might need some back-up too."

"Just get down here as soon as possible," Sashi told her.

Verge nodded and she and Penn swam upwards.

Suddenly, a jellyfish came and got Penn's head stuck in it. He yelped out and pulled it off. "What's this?" He threw it, disgusted.

"That's was a living being, Zero," Verge warned. "Treat it with respect!"

"You animal-lovers care too much," Penn teased. "What do you think Boone could be doing?"

"I don't know. Something stupid, most likely."

Boy, was she right. When she and Penn reached the surface, they found Boone, indeed, making sand sculptures.

"Wow," Penn mumbled. Verge rolled her eyes at Boone and flew over.

"_~Coco moat, coco moat, I'm gonna build a coco boat~" _he was singing to himself.

"Boone?" Verge called.

He let out a little scream and turned. "Oh, Verge, it's just you. You look weird as a mer-fairy out of water."

She shrugged. "I have to admit, the tail weighs me down a bit when I fly."

"_That's _what so important?" Penn asked, returning to the main topic of the matter.

"No," Boone said. "There's also that." He pointed to another sculpture, which was of him looking buff in a sports car.

"That can't happen in real life…" Verge mumbled, examining the detailed structure.

"OK, look," Penn said. "You're coming down and unlocking the magic vault thingy. Let's go."

"If I leave, who's gonna eat all these bananas?"

"Our mission is not to eat _bananas!"_

"Well, it should be! Because I'm great at eating bananas and it's never appreciated!"

"Guys!" Verge cut in. "No fighting, remember?"

"We're not fighting, Verge," Penn said calmly. "Boone is just acting stupid, like you said."

"_You're _stupid!" Boone countered.

"Is it stupid that I care about the mission?"

"Boone, just come down with us already!" Verge shouted.

"No can do, fish fly," Boone said.

Verge flew right over to his face and gave a deathly glare. "Who're you calling _'fish fly'?"_ Boone gulped at that.

Penn's shellphone started ringing again and he answered it. "Yeah, Boone's making sandcars, eating bananas, and apparently insulting Verge. How's it looking down there?"

Sashi grunted through the screen as she fought off the octopuses. "Mermaids make the worst army!" she answered angrily.

"We are gentlemen fish warriors!" one of them defended. "We will not have our bravery questioned…" He stopped when the octopuses attacked again. "Run like cowards!" The soldiers screamed and swam off.

"I need Verge or you down here!" Sashi said.

"I'll follow, Sash," Verge promised. "Just hold up, we're close to cracking Boone."

"I'll crack his _skull _just for anyone on this team to get down here and help me!"

"Wow, girls can be so intimidating," Boone commented. It was hard to tell if he was sarcastic or not.

Penn hung up and he and Verge tried pulling at Boone. "Boone! Seriously! We gotta go!"

"Wait!" Boone shrieked, clawing at the sand.

"Get over here!"

"Stop struggling!" Verge said, pulling at his legs.

"Stop!" Once Boone reached the water, he let out a scream and moved away. "Oh, get it off! Oh!" Penn and Verge exchanged confused glances.

"Well, that was weird," Verge said.

"Wait a second," Penn said, flipping his tail. "Are you afraid of water?"

Boone stopped running and scoffed. "No."

Penn and Verge each raised an eyebrow. Boone blinked and smiled innocently. The two then exchanged sly smiles.

Penn lifted his tail. Verge collected a ball of water. They both advanced on Boone.

He let out a scream. "OK, yes!"

"Aw, Boone," Verge said.

"Don't pity me!"

"Well, it's hard to not pity an animal. And I'm not pitying you."

Boone raised an eyebrow. "Really."

"I'm not! We're friends, remember?"

"She's right. Why didn't you just tell us?" Penn asked. "We're best friends."

Boone rubbed his neck. "I was embarrassed, OK? I can't even take showers or baths."

Penn and Verge looked at him curiously. "Well, then how do you clean yourself?"

Boone hesitated. "…You know…baby wipes…"

Penn let out a big guffaw of laughter. Verge was trying hard not laugh too. "Zero, that's not funny," she said, holding it in.

"You gotta admit, it's kinda funny!"

Boone crossed his claws. "I knew I shouldn't have flashbacked."

Penn's shellphone beeped again. "Hang on, it's Sash," he said. Although as soon as he turned the phone on, Sashi was screaming.

"_Get Verge down here!"_

"All right, all right!" she said quickly. "I'm going." As she held her spear, she turned to Penn. "You got him?"

"Under control," he promised. He then turned to Sashi. "Verge is on her way. And so are we."

"Dude!" Boone protested.

"Boone, I am going to help you conquer your fears! We can do this, all right?"

"How?"

"Very gently."

"Well, it seems like you've got a plan," Verge said. "Good luck guys."

She grew back to human/mermaid size and dove back underwater, Penn and Boone waving.

Sashi was there to greet her. "Finally!" she sighed.

"Let's kick octopus butt!" Verge said, grinning as she held her spear. "…But you know, not too much, 'cause we don't want them to die…"

Sashi rolled her eyes. "Once an animal-lover, always an animal lover."

The two charged.

They punched, stabbed, and poked octopuses back and forth. Sashi did not hesitate to hit any of them, but Verge mostly did. She usually only used to magic part of the spear to attack. But even with that much, it still wasn't enough.

"Verge!" Sashi called when she got her spear lost one time.

The mer-fairy quickly kicked an octopus back and used her water magic to attack the one before Sashi. She quickly got her spear back, but there were even more octopuses surrounding them.

"There are too many of them!" Verge cried.

"We can't give up!" Sashi said.

That's when Verge saw an octopus attacking a mermaid. It was scared, but it didn't try to retreat. It was fighting back. That lifted some hopes up for Verge until the octopus merely swatted the mermaid away. It shrieked and fell to the ground in pain.

Something struck in Verge. She got a mean look in her eyes. "That's it," she declared. "I don't care if you're all animals."

Verge lifted her hands up and made a swirling motion. The waters around her spun and spun, creating an underwater tornado. The octopus backed away, but it was too late to retreat. She released the tornado, enveloping the screaming octopi in it as she sent them away from the underwater city. The octopus that attacked the mermaid earlier was also caught in it.

"That'll teach you to respect underwater life!" Verge shouted.

"And _that's_ what I call good fighting!" Sashi cheered. She and Verge did a high-five, causing another sonic boom and the other octopuses around to get blown away.

"Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Hey, I don't tell you everything!"

"Well, think you can do it again?"

"You bet I can!" And she did. Verge created more tornados, and Sashi continued to fight. Almost all the mermaids evacuated, but there were still some brave ones that stayed. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. It was as if only Sashi and Verge were the ones fighting.

But no matter what happened, more octopuses just kept coming in. The tornados Verge made lessened, and used up all her power. She wasn't able to make any more. She and Sashi were once again surrounded.

Sashi sneered at them all. "It's all right, Verge," she promised. "We can do this. Don't worry."

"Oh, I'm not worrying," she defended. "Just waiting for a silver lining."

"Yoo-hoo!" a voice called from above. The two gasped, looked up and were delighted to see Penn pulling a jellyfish…with Boone in it. "Be not afraid! For it is I, Crab Man Boone! Coming to you from this fishy gas bag of gross!"

"Well, it's about time!" Verge called. Sashi grinned. She used her spear and stabbed the clam under them. She grabbed Verge and they swam, as the clam closed up and trapped the remaining octopuses in it.

The four finally headed together at the trident's location. "No!" Octopus Rippen shouted, throwing Larry off him.

The pointy tip of his head was heading straight in between Penn and Boone. That cut the seaweed he was using to pull Boone's jellyfish and released it.

"Boone!"

"Penn!"

"Guys, watch out!" Verge shouted.

Too late. Rippen snuck up on Penn and Sashi, laughing as he trapped them in his tentacles. Verge also tried swimming away but he got hold of her too. "Not this again!" she groaned, remembering the last time she was in Rippen's hands.

"Who likes hugs?" he sneered. "I do!"

"How many times are you gonna have to trap us?!"

"As many times as necessary! Just as long as you stop getting in my way!"

"Good will always be in the way of evil, for they fight for the path of justice!"

Everyone was silent for a while. "You have no idea how hero-like that sounded."

"I was aware, thank you."

"Boone!" Penn called. "You have to unlock the trident! You gotta swim for it!"

"I can't!"

"Yes you can!"

"No I can't!"

"I believe in you! You can do it!"

Verge thought there was something in Boone's eyes that brought him hope when Penn said that. He hesitated for a moment, looking determined, and said, "Yeah, I'm just not gonna do it."

"_Seriously?!" _Verge screamed.

"Boone!"

"I said no!" Angered, Boone accidentally used his claw and popped the jellyfish dead. "Whoa!"

Unaware that Boone was now swimming, Verge only glared. "Ocean life! Respect! How is it that no one can pay attention to that?!"

"Dude, I float!" Boone said, ignoring her.

"Of course you float, it's water!" Penn shouted.

"Whoa, this is fun!" Boone said, swimming to the trident. "It's like being in outer space, but like under water."

He finally used his claws and unlocked the trident. Once it was out, Penn, Verge, and Sashi grinned as they all high-fived. Another sonic boom was produced, causing Rippen to let the go. "Now that's a high-five!" Larry cheered.

"Yeah!" Penn cheered as well, getting the trident. Using it, he made an underwater twister, one even larger than Verge's, and captured all the octopuses in it. "Super Power War Trident Octopus Grab! Yah!"

The twister swirled and swirled, letting it blast out of the ocean and sending the octopuses to the surface.

"Yeah!" the quartet cheered. "Quadruple fist bump!"

"We did it!" Verge said, flying in loops.

"Of course we did!" Penn said, grinning. "We're the best team!"

The mermaids were cheering as well. All the mer-citizens cheered for the prince as he took his seat at his throne. He held his trident up proudly.

Penn did a fist bump with Boone, and nodded at Sashi. He looked for Verge, until he felt someone ruffle the fins on his head. Verge, now small-sized, did a tiny fist bump with him.

"Great jobs, guys," She then turned to Boone, smiling. "If you dare kill another jellyfish, I will stick _you _in an underwater tornado." Boone yelped a bit and nodded quickly.

A mermaid went and placed a necklace of sea flowers around Penn's neck. "Why, thank you, my good man," he said gratefully.

"I am a lady."

There was silence. "…Right."

More silence. "Awkward." Verge coughed.


	4. The Old Old West

**Episode 3: The Old Old West**

* * *

**It's sad to know there aren't many people watching PZ uwu**

* * *

"Hey, Zero," Verge called, flying over her friend. "Whatcha doing?"

"Fixing my scooter," Penn replied, tightening a bolt on it. "Haven't used it in a while. Thought I'd tune it up a bit. After all, I do have some mad repairing skills." He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Really? Then why couldn't you fix the MUHU?" That deflated Penn's determination. "Hey, I'm kidding, just kidding."

"Think you can help out instead?"

"Ah, well, you know I'm not good at technology…but hey, what the heck." Verge shrunk to a smaller size and examined the scooter. "Do you have a tiny lug wrench?"

"Uh…"

"Yeah, didn't think so just hand me the regular one," As Penn handed it over, she added, "Say, aren't you parents good at this stuff? They fixed up that doll house for me once."

"Oh, yeah," Penn said. "Sure, I'll call."

"Also, could you handle this tightening instead? I can't seem to move the wrench."

Penn rolled his eyes as she gestured to where he should tighten. "Next time, be in human size before you try doing something."

"No way! Human size is boring." Verge flew on top of his head and pointed at another bolt.

"Well, at least you're trying to be helpful…"

"Aren't I always?" Verge grinned innocently.

Penn clicked the MUHU and called his parents. The screen popped up, and Vonnie Zero's face appeared. "Hi, Mom," Penn said.

"Hi, sweetie! Hi, Verge! How are you two?"

"Great, Mrs. Zero," Verge replied.

"Oh, how many times does it take for me to tell you to call me Vonnie?" As soon as she said that, a troll appeared out of nowhere and Vonnie used her big hammer to knock it out.

Then, Brock Zero came into the picture. "Hey, you kids!" he called, wrestling another troll. "How are my favorite children?"

"Fine, Dad," Penn answered, smiling.

"What was it you needed?"

"Well, we were hoping if you could help us fix Zero's scooter," Verge started.

Brock only replied by punching the troll he was wrestling with. Vonnie appeared again, smiling back at her son. "What was that?"

"Is this a bad time, guys?" Penn asked, tightening another bolt. "We can call back."

"It's a perfect time, sweetie," Vonnie insisted. That was yet to be questioned when a troll appeared again and she hammered it down.

"Mrs. Vonnie, you look like you're having trouble over there," Verge said nervously.

"No, no, we're fine, dear!" Another troll appeared from the abyss behind her and she went to attack it. Penn and Verge exchanged worried glances.

"Hey, Penn! Verge!" Brock called, fighting a troll's hand. "Wanna talk werewolves again? 'Cause it's not hard to win 'em over if you know where to scratch!" He threw the hand away and leaned towards the screen. "Unfortunately, it's not their belly." The same hand he tossed away went and grabbed hold of him.

"The only thing I scratch a werewolf with is a silver bullet!" Penn and Verge looked over and smiled when they saw Boone and Sashi entering their house. Verge moved and fluttered above them.

"I thought that sounded like Sashi!" Vonnie said, waving as she held a troll tooth and crawled out of the abyss.

Sashi giggled. "Move." She went to take her seat on the couch.

"My little superstar quartet! Oh, Boone, if you don't mind, could you take your feet off the coffee table or—_so help me, I will smash your head like a ripe melon!"_

Boone let out a shriek as he did as she asked.

"Troll. I was talking to the troll!" she said, fighting yet another troll. Boone relaxed at that.

"We miss you, Mrs. Vonnie," Verge called.

"Aw, we miss you too! Just keep doing what you're doing! You're a great team!" She disappeared from the screen to fight the troll.

"Quadruple fist bump!"

"Oh, and pal," Brock called to Penn again. "If you're still having trouble with that rash on your bottom, the baby powder's in the bottom drawer in the bathroom."

"Bye!"

Penn immediately turned the MUHU off and the screen disappeared. There was an awkward silence between the four of them for a bit.

"Just for the record, I had no idea," Verge piped up.

"So, let's get to work?" Penn asked, changing the topic quickly.

"Sure." Verge grew to human size. "Who wants to do a wings vs. fairy dust vs. scooter vs. foot race?" Four hands rose up.

* * *

Naturally, Verge won. Even when Boone was using Verge's floating fairy dust, he still got last place as usual. But it didn't matter anymore once they saw the dimension they were about to go to next.

"Whoa, looks like Cowboy World!" Penn exclaimed.

"_~Cowboy World~" _he and Boone sang. Sashi just rolled her eyes.

"Cowboy?" Verge questioned. "A boy that looks like a cow?"

Penn chuckled. "Verge, Verge, Verge. Even after eight years, there's still so much you need to know."

"It'll be awesome, you'll see!" Boone said.

"Giddyup," Phyllis said, zapping them.

* * *

Penn, Boone, and Verge were lying on the ground on top of each other when they got to the dimension. Verge immediately flew off and checked her clothes. She did indeed look like a cowgirl in blue and red clothes, brown gloves, and golden hat and boots. But of course, she didn't know she was a cowgirl. She looked down at her friends.

"I'm not the Sheriff?" Penn asked. "Hm. Really thought I'd be the Sheriff."

"At least you got cool chaps," Boone said. "All I got is a stethoscope and this bag full of leeches."

"Cowboy World…" the boys sighed.

"I don't even…" Penn said.

"Yeah, me neither."

Penn looked up at Verge, who was still confused at the new world and smiled a bit. "Cool, we got matching clothes, Verge!" The fairy smiled and flew down, giving him a high-five.

"I'm guessing I'm a cowgirl, huh?" she said.

"More like a _cowfairy_," Boone giggled.

"I still don't get where the term 'cow' is in the name, though."

"Yeah, it's hard to explain. Anyway, we're here. OK, Sash, check the Specs." That's when they noticed Sashi wasn't around. "Sash?"

They heard a door close and found Sashi standing by a store. In girls' clothing. "Wow, Sash," Penn said, half-teasingly. "With that dress, you totally look like a lady. The hat, the bustle, I mean it's—"

Sashi threw her fan at him and it hit him in the legs, causing him to fall. Boone laughed at him, but he also got attacked. Verge dodged the fan both times. "No comment, no comment," she promised.

Sashi only smiled in satisfaction. "All right, we are ordinary townsfolk who live in the town of Big—"

"Butt," Boone interrupted, smiling.

"_Butte," _Sashi corrected. "It's pronounced _B-utte. _We have to stop bank robbers from stealing the life savings of everyone in the town of Big—"

"Butt!" Penn interrupted as well, he and Boone laughing.

"I don't get it," Verge frowned. Penn and Boone sighed. Typical Verge.

"…Before they cross the county line and ride off on their trusty—"

There was a loud noise. The heroes turned their attention towards the bank. A red dinosaur came barging out of it, a large treasure chest hanging from its jaws. Cowboy Rippen was on it, sneering. "Who's got a T-Rex? I do! Giddyup!" He guided the dinosaur away from the town and headed for the county line.

"Now, that can't be right," Verge mumbled. She didn't know what cowboys were, but she knew enough to know _dinosaurs_ couldn't be a part of this era.

That's when the four noticed dinosaurs everywhere. Dinosaurs, treated as if they were horses. Verge stared, a bit fascinated.

"Dinosaur Cowboy World!" Penn and Boone cheered.

Sashi only hit them. "Guys, we gotta get Rippen."

"Hey, look," Verge pointed at a sign where it had dinosaurs. _"Crazy Bubba's Used Dinos" _The four smiled at each other and went over there.

"Yee-hah!"

"Yippee-kay-yay!"

"Hay-ho, dino!"

Verge flew above her friends' new dinosaurs. They got so easily attached. "Names?"

"Allosaur!"

"Petrosaur!"

"Cowosaur!"

That's when Verge looked around for a fourth dino. There was none. "Hey, what about me?" she asked.

"You can just fly, can't you?" Boone asked. "I mean, that's what you usually do, anyway—" Sashi went and threw her fan at him again.

"You know Verge doesn't like being treated like that!" Penn scolded.

"No, no, it's fine," Verge said, forcing a smile. She was thankful for friends were sticking up for her but not when at least one of them wasn't. "I'll, just uh, improvise." She looked around. Where could she get another dinosaur?

She smiled when she saw one in the sky. It was a pterodactyl type of dinosaur; but when it opened its mouth, Verge heard the sound of a hawk's.

"Watch this."

She flew upwards towards the dino. It screeched when it saw her and used its wings to attack. Verge dodged. She did a little flip, kicking the dino in the nose. It reared back, and Verge kicked it from under the gut. It teetered upwards and Verge flew over it again. This time, she punched it over the head and it was sent flying down onto the ground. It landed before Penn, Boone, and Sashi, who gasped at it. Verge had some rope and used it to tie it around the dinosaur's mouth. When Verge pulled at the new reins, it screeched again and immediately went quiet, signaling Verge's complete ownership over it now.

"Hawkosaur!"

The other three stared and blinked in surprise. Even Sashi couldn't believe what she saw. Verge frowned when she faced them. "What?"

"How did you…" Penn started.

"What, did you think I was just some wimpy, weak little fairy that couldn't defend herself?" Boone opened his mouth. "Don't answer that. Answer that, and this dino will deafen you." Boone closed it.

"I have to say, I'm impressed," Sashi said, smirking.

"Thank you."

"What happened to all that animal-loving business?" Penn asked.

"Are dinosaurs even animals? How long have they lived exactly?"

"Well…"

"Let's just get on the move on, all right?" Verge smiled innocently.

"I'm keeping a close eye on you from now on, Verge," Penn half-smiled. "Now, let's get that gold back!"

As soon as he said that, the dino's saddle loosened and he found himself upside down under it. The Allosaur went roaring and stampeding. "Ahhh, whoa!" Penn said, trying to calm it (and failed). "Does 'whoa' work on dinosaurs?"

Boone, Sashi, and Verge's dinos also got scared and ran off. Their dinos started wrecking practically half the town with their panicking. "Easy!" Verge tried calming them down. But apparently, dinosaurs weren't good listeners.

She suddenly saw a rope catching her friends off their dinosaurs and tying them up. Before she could shrink or escape, the same rope caught her as well.

Before they knew it, the four of them were being held prisoner behind bars at the jailhouse. It seems like the Sheriff has caught them and realized they weren't from here.

Penn was trying to convince him. "No, no no, you don't understand! We're the good guys."

"Good guys don't commit grand theft dino," the Sheriff's voice said.

"Sir—"

"The name is Sheriff Scaly Briggs." The Sheriff stepped out of the shadows to reveal his old, stern face. There was some cowboy background music at his name.

"Sheriff Briggs."

"Sheriff Scaly Briggs." Music.

"Sheriff Scaly Briggs."

"Sheriff Scaly Briggs." Music.

"That's literally what I just said."

"You said Sheriff Scaly Briggs?" Music. "OK, that's enough Madge!"

They looked to the right and found an old banjo-playing woman at the corner. Boone tossed her a coin so she could leave.

"Look," Penn said. "All we we're trying to do is stop the bandits who robbed your bank."

"No one done robbed the bank," the Sheriff said.

An old man suddenly appeared by the window and shouted out, "Holy snakes, someone done robbed the bank!"

"Still don't mean I don't arrested the good guys."

"Sheriff Briggs don't arrested the good guys!"

"Still don't mean I should let you out!"

"Sheriff Briggs should let them—"

"All right, dagnabbit!" The Sheriff took his slingshot and shot at the man to stop his shouting. "Hard to tell who's a bad guy ever since they started selling black hats to the general public!"

"That's nice, that's nice," Boone said distractedly.

"So, are you going to let us go?" Sashi asked. "Or will you let our friend do it for you?"

Sheriff Briggs' eyes widened when Verge, in smaller size, flew before him, his jail keys in her hand. She raised her eyebrows expectedly. "A cowfairy, huh," he muttered. "Should've guessed when I'd saw them wings."

Verge let her friends free and they stepped out of jail. "Yeah, I was gonna let you go anyway," the Sheriff excused.

The four heroes were now preparing to leave for the county line as they prepared their dinos this time. Sashi was pointing out the difference between her and her dinosaur. "Herbivore. Carnivore. Behave, or I will make you extinct!" The Petrosaur shivered in fright.

"That's a bit too threatening, Sash," Verge pointed out.

"Says the one who beat up a flying hawk-screeching dino."

"You're never gonna live that moment down, are you?"

"Nope."

Penn then noticed the Sheriff preparing his own saddle at the tail of his Allosaur. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm Sheriff, I'm going with you," he replied.

"Ahh, oh, um, no, see the thing is, we're kind of a quartet." He held his fist out, and his three friends fist bumped it.

"Yeah, I see that. We got a saying. Bandit rustling's like walls on an outhouse, having four is better than three. But sometimes it's always useful to have one more, and make five better than four."

"We work alone, old timer," Sashi insisted.

"The name is Sheriff Scaly Briggs!" Music. "Madge!"

He accidentally hit the dino in frustration, causing it to act up again. "Whoa!" Penn shouted, trying to hold on.

But the Sheriff was able to fix his mistake. He got his jail keys and rattled them, making a chiming sound. The dino calmed down and stopped roaring.

"Still got my tricks," the Sheriff winked.

Penn smiled. "This guy might be useful," Verge commented. Penn held a hand out in gesture. Sashi just shrugged.

"Now here's the deal. I'm comin', or it's back to jail we can waste time discussin' it while your friend tries to milk that triceratops!" He pointed to Boone, who was indeed milking his Cowosaur.

Penn raised and eyebrow and hesitated. "What do you think, Verge?" he asked, turning to her Hawkosaur. But she wasn't on it.

"Hey guys, check it out!" Verge said, flying up to them, suddenly small-sized. "I stole Madge's banjo!"

"...How did you get that exactly?"

"...I don't tell you everything."

"You best return that!" the Sheriff called.

"Yeah, maybe later."

"Awesome!" Boone cheered. "Nice, Verge! Let me play it!"

Penn only frowned. Well, his fairy guide wasn't helpful at the moment. "All right, fine," he finally replied.

The Sheriff grinned and got on the dinosaur's tail.

"All right, let's go!" Verge pulled at her dino, and they took to the sky. The other three dinosaurs followed under them.

They were a bit silent for the next few minutes. Penn was still reluctant about bringing the Sheriff along. Verge noticed and went over him, hanging upside down from the Hawkosaur as she faced him. "Somethin' wrong, Zero?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing," he said.

"Come on, you can tell me! I'm your best friend over here."

Penn smiled a bit. "It's nothing really. Promise."

"Ah, well, if you say so." She then smiled. "Hey, how about some music?"

As if one cue, Boone started playing the banjo Verge stole.

_~On the ol' Western trail, we'll be travelin' along_

_Ridin' dinos for justice while we're singin' this song_

'_Cuz when good folks is threatened, we'll be rightin' that wrong_

_By returnin' their money and'a singin' this BUTT!~_

Sashi gasped and glared, but Boone kept singing, Penn and Verge singing along.

_~Butt butt butt butt, big butt big butt_

_Butt butt butt butt, big butt big butt…~_

They stopped singing when Sheriff Scaly Briggs interrupted them with his snoring and burping. "That old corpse is washed up," Sashi said. "Best use for him as a human shield, or, if it comes to it, food."

"That's a little extreme, Sash," Penn said. "He's not that bad."

"Guess again," Verge said. The Sheriff somehow found his way to Penn in his sleep and burped out his teeth. Penn put them back in, disgusted, and pushed him off.

"Best wash that off." Verge handed over a water container. Penn nodded in gratitude and took a sip. But the Sheriff's slingshot got caught in a cactus torn and he went flying towards Penn, who got knocked off mid-drink.

"Wha? Breakfast time again?" The Sheriff slid back down on the tail, going back to sleep.

Verge's eyes widened when Penn fell in a lake. He seemed terrified as he got out of the water. Verge quickly flew over, pulling him back as a water dinosaur came out and attempted to bite him.

"Gotcha," she smirked.

"Thanks," Penn gasped, feeling his heart pound.

"Penn," Sashi called. "You gotta ditch Grandpa or we're not going to make it to the county line!"

Penn and Verge exchanged a look as they looked up at the Sheriff, who was still talking in his sleep. "All I ask is a gravy mijibledy…" He fell off, still snoring.

"They're sort of right, Zero," Verge said quietly. Penn frowned at the ground.

The four of them stopped by a little tree. Using her magic, Verge floated him over, letting him sleep under it. Penn knelt by the Sheriff as he continued to snore.

"Sorry, Scaly," he said. "But we gotta get that gold." The Sheriff replied by spitting his teeth at him. "…Well, I won't miss that."

As he returned his teeth, Penn noticed something sticking out of his vest. He got it out and realized it was a newspaper clipping. And it was about the Sheriff.

"_Retiring," _Sashi scoffed. "Told ya he's washed up."

"Not retiring. Fired." They turned and found the Sheriff was now fully awake and up. "I was the town hero once when I was younger. But you get older. Slower. Now, I'm a town joke." Penn and Verge exchanged a glance. "That's why I'm here. Get one last win, prove deep down I'm still the hero I used to be."

"Poor Grandpa," Verge frowned.

"Well, that's not happening," Boone said. Penn and Verge stared.

"I'm with Boone," Sashi agreed. "Sorry, Gramps."

"Come on, guys," Penn protested.

"Have some heart," Verge added.

"It's OK, you two," the sheriff smiled. "Maybe I can still help." He brought out a map and started giving directions. "Them rustlers are headin' for the county line, they'll taking Gizzard Gulch. To head 'em off, you ought to take Raptor Ridge. Just start out here, take a right at the rock that looks like a lady dinosaur. Just leave me a dino and a carton of that there triceratops milk, I'll be gettin' it on home."

Boone immediately gave a can of his milk, and the Sheriff smiled.

Penn hesitated, but he said, "You can have my dinosaur, Sheriff."

"Thanks, pardners." He nodded and took the reins of the Allosaur. After looking back, he started off for the other direction.

"Let's get going then!" Sashi said. Everyone got on their dinos, and Penn rode with Sashi. The four heroes went and followed the Sheriff's instructions.

Verge noticed Penn was looking sadder than he was earlier. She drove her dino downwards, picked Penn up by surprise, and set him on her dinosaur behind her.

"Whoa, what was that for?" Penn smirked.

"You wanna talk?" Verge asked, looking behind her. "You're looking even more down in the dumps than when the Sheriff wasn't around."

"Ah, well, about that…" He trailed off. He couldn't seem to find the words.

"You all right there, partner?" Penn had to smile. At least she was getting used to the terms already.

"I guess I felt bad for the old man, you know? I mean, I wouldn't want people treating me like that either when I grow old or something."

"I understand," Verge nodded. "You know me, I don't like people taking advantage of me, even after I've done so much already. I hate it when I'm underestimated, so I kinda know what the Sheriff feels like." Penn nodded, sighing.

"I just wish we could've done more."

As soon as he said that, Verge noticed that under them, Sashi and Boone had come to a dead end. She flew downwards to find Sashi flaming. "This isn't a shortcut. That old coot messed up again!"

"That doesn't sound right," Verge said. "Well, yeah, maybe a little, but there's something about him when he said those directions that didn't sound right…"

Penn was hesitating, when his eyes suddenly widened. "He didn't mess up. He sent us the wrong way on purpose!"

"What?!" his friends shouted.

"Why, I oughta…" Verge muttered.

"So you're saying we might already be miles away from Rippen and Larry and we don't even know where they are?!" Sashi exclaimed.

"No," Penn said slowly. "Verge, go fly."

She nodded and she and her dino flew upwards. They scanned the area, looking around for any signs of the villains…and saw a flash of red and green.

"I see them!" she shouted below.

"Yes!" Boone cheered. "How are we gonna get there in time?"

Penn smirked. "That, partner, is why we have a fairy." He looked up at Verge and smiled.

She grinned even more. Creating a handful of golden dust, she sprinkled it right above her friends and their dinos. Slowly, they began to float up into the air. The Hawkosaur screeched.

"Giddyup!" Verge shouted. All the dinos roared and ran off in the air.

They landed at the villains' location before they even knew it. Sheriff Briggs had already arrived, was on the ground, and surrounded by rampaging, hungry dinosaurs. "Well, I still didn't catch the name," Rippen said. "But, see ya'll later."

Verge tossed Penn some of the rope she got. He took it, twirled it, and caught the T-Rex's tail with it. Rippen fell off his saddle and hung by the treasure box. Rippen glared at Penn.

"His name is Sheriff Scaly Briggs!" he announced. Madge, who someone got a new banjo, stood on a rock as she played the background music. "And _he's _the hero around here!" The rampaging dinos started to advance. Penn continued to hold onto the rope.

"…The hero who should now stand up and do something heroic. Sooner, rather later. So, here's the cue, Sheriff Scaly Briggs!"

When the old Sheriff tried to get up, the only thing he could say was, "Ow!"

Rippen only laughed at his pain as his Rex cut the rope holding it back. As he started to head onto the county line, the Sheriff jingled his keys. The T-Rex and the dino herd went towards the sound.

Rippen waved a beef jerky stick in the air, and the T-Rex stopped. "He likes mine better," he bragged.

"Wasn't trying to get his attention," the Sheriff said, tossing the keys. Rippen instinctly caught them. "I was trying to get theirs."

That's when he realized the dino herd was heading straight for him. The T-Rexlet out a scream and ran off, dropping the treasure box and dropping Rippen and Larry. They also yelled as they ran for their lives.

Penn and Verge had already started helping the Sheriff up. "Ah," he relaxed, as he eased out his back.

"I'm sorry I suggested we use you as a human shield," Sashi apologized. "And/or food."

"It's OK," he said. "I get that a lot." He turned to Penn. "Thank you."

"You're the one who saved the day," Penn said, smiling. "Sometimes it's useful to have one more, and make five better than four." He held his fist out. The old Sheriff smiled sheepishly as he fist bumped with everyone else.

"Let's get headin' back!" Sashi said.

"You should give the money back to the bank, Sheriff," Verge said, smiling. "You deserve to."

"Thanks, pardners," he smiled genuinely. " 'Appreciate it."

Verge took hold of the T-Rex, and let the Sheriff ride on him. The five of them flew, fairy dust style, all the way back to the town of Big Butte. The Sheriff proudly returned the money, all hero-like, and the townsfolk praised him.

Boone began to sing his little song again. _"~On the ol' Western trail, we'll be travelin' along~_

The other three joined in. _"~Ridin' dinos for justice while we're singin' this song~"_

"Haha!" Penn laughed.

"_~'Cuz when good folks is threatened, we'll be rightin' that wrong~"_

Even the Sheriff joined in. _"~By returnin' their money and'a singin' this BUTT~"_

As the four heroes rode into the sunset, they waved goodbye to the Sheriff, still singing.

"_~Butt butt butt butt, big butt big butt_

_Butt butt butt butt, big butt big butt_

_Big butt big butt, big butt big butt_

_Butt butt big butt big butt big butt!~"_

"I still don't get it!" Verge shouted out jokingly. Her friends laughed as Penn ruffled her hair.


	5. Babypocalypse

**Episode 4: Babypocalypse**

* * *

**I wish I got more favorites from this fic… u-u**

* * *

"They said I couldn't do it!" a determined Verge cried out. "But I proved them wrong!"

Penn entered the kitchen, yawning, and raised an eyebrow at the fairy's shouting.

"I prepared a breakfast while still only being in my small size!"

The red-haired boy chuckled at that. "And by breakfast, you mean cereals and milk?"

"Affirmative."

Penn smiled as Verge pulled a chair back for him. "And by 'they', you mean..."

"Your Uncle Chuck and Aunt Rose who are currently trying to dress the chinchilla."

The fairy pointed and Penn saw his aunt and uncle putting a suit on their pet. "Isn't he adorable?" his aunt cooed. Penn and Verge smiled awkwardly.

"I pity him."

Penn shrugged as he took a spoonful of cereal and ate it. "Thanks for breakfast."

"Oh, here, I got the juice." The fairy opened the fridge and brought out a carton of orange juice. Penn immediately stood.

"You don't have to—" Too late. The moment Verge took hold of it, she immediately fell to the ground. Penn resisted the urge to laugh.

"Haha, excuse me for caring," Verge grunted as she struggled carrying the carton.

Penn chuckled. "No, really I appreciate you taking care of me, Verge." He poured himself a glass full and gulped it whole.

"It's the least I could do, Zero," She went and sat by his bowl. "I want you to at least still have a good time..."

She started to say something else but cut herself off. Unfortunately, Penn knew what she was about to say.

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm all right?" The boy turned to the fairy and smiled. "You don't have to keep worrying about me, Verge." Verge blinked and blushed a bit. "But I'm glad you do."

The small fairy beamed at that. Penn sat behind his bowl and smiled, patting her head lightly. "You miss them too, right?"

"Of course I do...but I know you miss them more!'

Penn smiled. Typical Verge. "I'm guessing you want to call them?"

"Thought you'd never ask."

Penn called his parents on the MUHU and they immediately picked up. But for some reason, Vonnie was having a hard time aiming it at her face. All the two saw was darkness. They exchanged a look.

"Mrs. Vonnie?"

"Hi kids! What's up?"

"Oh, we just wanted to talk," Penn said. "Mom, you know we can't see you, right?"

"Oh! Sorry, hold on," Unfortunately, when she adjusted the MUHU, the top of her head came into vision.

"Oh boy."

"Mom, you're too low, you gotta point it—" She adjusted again and now her feet were shown. "Uh, no, that's not— That's worse. It's gotta be higher." Another fail. Penn chuckled. "Still can't see ya." He ate a spoonful of cereal and then fed Verge some.

"You gotta point it at your face, hon," Brock's voice told his wife. At that, Vonnie finally focused the MUHU on her and they saw Brock chopping something with an axe. "Keep it up! I will eat another one of your eggs!"

"Sounds like things are looking fun over there," Verge commented.

"Oh, it's not so bad," Vonnie chuckled. "But I admit it can be tiring after a while."

"Can't wait to hear everything when you get back!"

"Can't wait to tell you!" Vonnie grinned. "You doin' OK there, sweeties? Uncle Chuck and Aunt Rose keeping things fun?"

Penn and Verge exchanged a glance. "Uh..." They turned away to see that they had fully dressed the chinchilla now.

"That's the way a chinchilla should look," Chuck agreed.

"Who's ready for their power breakfast?" Rose asked, baby-like.

"Look at this handsome rodent."

"Yes you are!" The Chinchilla only hissed.

"Let's just say...we don't tell you everything." Verge smiled.

Penn smiled a bit and then frowned. "I...We miss you guys."

"Aww. We miss you too. MUHU hug, everyone." Penn and Verge smiled as they hugged the screen but frowned again when they practically felt nothing. "I know it's not as good as the real thing."

"It's OK Mom. I told Verge this, but I'm fine."

"I'm not," Verge spoke up. "_Please _come back soon!"

Brock and Vonnie chuckled. "We'll sure try, Verge," Brock said. "Take care of each other, all right?" The two nodded. "OK, let's torch the net! Egg Sac Punch!" Penn and Verge winced when he then punched said object.

Penn hung the MUHU up. "You all right?"

"How ironic that now _you're_ asking me that." Penn had to smile. "I'm good. Thank you."

Penn finished his breakfast and Verge sprinkled him with floating dust. The two exited their home and headed for the Odyssey.

Boone and Sashi were waiting for them there. "Wazzup, brozos?" Boone said, acting cool-like.

"No, Boone," Verge said, telling him to stop. He shut up.

Penn grinned. "Let's get to work, shall we?"

The four stepped onto the platform. Phyllis was above, waiting. "No loose change in pockets? Remember. Get zapped with coins, get scorched horribly."

"Plus, it is impossible to find a snack machine that'll take them later," Boone said, taking a coin out. "Isn't that right, George Meltfacington?" He then examined the coin and gasped. "Whoa, kinda looks like you Phyllis!"

"First degree burn!" she shouted out, zapping them as Boone shouted, "Ow!"

* * *

"_~La la la la la la la la la la la la~"_

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa wait."

The four stopped skipping and examined their forms for a second. Penn stared at his hands; which weren't really hands. They belonged to the hands of a stuffed dog. "Why are we singing? And how cute is Sashi?" He and Boone turned to the Sashi rabbit and laughed.

She glared. "We'll see who's laughing when I pull your stuffing out of your nose!" She punched her hand, it made an electronic sound in her emanate and play a childish song. It made Penn and Boone laugh louder. Sashi growled and used a rock to break the device inside her. "Better."

"You guys are _so _cute!" The three animals looked up to see the only one who hadn't changed her form. She was flying around and over her friends as usual.

"Is this one of those worlds where you still stay the same?" Penn asked.

"Oh, I changed all right. Check it out." Verge lowered her flying to show them her arm. She barely had any fingers, and her entire body was also stuffed with stuffing.

"A stuffed fairy toy!" Boone cheered, grabbing her within his attached hands and giving her a big hug. "Aw, you're so squishy! And soft!"

"Boone…can't breathe…"

"Hey, hey, give her some space," Penn took the fairy from him and stopped. "Wow, he's right, you _are_ soft.

Verge shrugged. "It matches my sweet and cute personality, I guess."

"Sweet and cute? That's not _all_ you, you know," Sashi smirked.

"You're _never _going to make me forget!"

"Well, at least you're not some cheapo carnival prize," Penn teased at Boone. But then he noticed the tag attached to him that said "Cheapo Carnival Prize"

"Yep," Verge said. "So glad."

"Or your hands aren't stuck together," Boone sighed, trying to remove his hands. He was successful, when he realized they were made with Velcro on them. "Oh! Never mind! I'm the best one!"

Penn rolled his eyes. "OK, Sash, check the Specs."

"Mayor Pink Panda is in trouble, and it's up to us to save her."

"We can so do this!" Verge cheered. "Right?"

"Yep," Penn agreed. "Well, good news is, in a world like this, at least we can't get hurt!" He high-fived with Boone. However, when he pulled away, Penn's hand got stuck to his Velcro and got ripped off. "I stand corrected."

"Whoa," Verge said, staring. "Doesn't that hurt at all?"

"When you're a toy, no pain, all gain." Penn smiled a bit. "I'm guessing you can't fix it?" Verge shook her head. "Yeah, it's all right, let's just try looking for a hospital."

Verge flew upwards and out of the trees, scanning the area. "I see a town up ahead. Just continue south."

"Roger that!" Sashi called.

The four then headed for the town she mentioned. "Everything looks as soft as me," Verge noticed. The other three gazed in awe at the plush little village.

The townsfolk had come out of their homes to greet them. "Help!" a stuffed bear cried. "Our mayor has been taken! Government functions have grounded to a halt! Please. Tell me you're a band of wondering heroes!"

"That we are, town's plushie!" Penn declared. "We have heard your cries of distress and have come to save your mayor and your…uh…quilted city!"

"Hooray!" the townsfolk cheered.

"Now, uh, which way to the emergency room?"

"That way!"

"Thank you, little creatures!" Verge called as they headed in the direction they pointed at. "They were so cute."

"You think all animals are cute," Boone pointed out.

"Yeah, that's true."

They arrived at the hospital, and a receptionist was there behind a table, as if waiting for them. "How may I help you?" it asked.

"Yeah, uh…" Penn lifted his broken arm with his working one and waved it.

"Hmm…I see…Dr. Hissy may see you now."

"Well, that was convenient," Sashi said.

The four entered the room to find the snake stuffed toy, Dr. Hissy there, waiting. "Ah, hello," he greeted. "I'm Dr. Hissy. What seems to be the problem?"

"Why does no one notice the one missing arm?" Penn questioned.

Dr. Hissy chuckled. "Don't worry, I can fix that up in no time."

The doctor took a needle and thread out of his drawers and started to sew Penn's arm back on, humming as he worked.

"So," Penn started. "What's the deal with the mayor?"

"Oh, evil giants came in the night. Took her. But you gotta get her back before they rip her to shreds! Like they did with the police commissioner!"

He opened up another drawer and in it was a single button. Verge, somehow, knew right away what it was and gasped.

Boone took it out. "A button from his shirt?"

Dr. Hissy paused. "His eye."

"Ew!" Boone gasped, dropping the button. "I got eye on me?!" He proceeded wiping everything with his hands. "Get it out! Get it out!" Unfortunately, that included Penn's arm. Penn glared.

"I can see why you're a _cheap_ carnival prize," Verge teased.

"Not funny, Divergent."

Dr. Hissy sighed. "Nurse! Cancel my tea time!"

"Yes, Dr. Hissy!"

Once Dr. Hissy finished fixing Penn's arm again, Verge flew upwards and placed her flat hands on her hips. "All right, guys! Let's go giant hunting!" She flew out of the emergency room, her friends running after.

They found themselves back on the road, following Verge and her fairy senses. "If we keep heading south and on this path, we'll find those giants," she announced.

"Great job, Verge," Sashi said. "We better prepare. We don't know what these giants might pull."

"How bad can these evil giants be?" Penn scoffed. "What are they? Giant teddy bears?"

As soon as he said that, a giant hand slammed next to them. They looked up and gasped when they saw a giant Larry _baby _holding on to Mayor Pink Panda. "I say…" she started.

"Look!" Verge pointed, and there was a second baby. Baby Rippen shook the mayor and slammed her repeatedly into the ground, stuffing flying everywhere.

"They are beating the stuffing out of her! Literally!" Penn gasped.

"We have to do something!" Verge shouted. "Oh wait, sorry, that's just Captain Obvious. Guys, hide." The four of them went and crawled behind the bushes.

"Unhand me this instant," the mayor commanded. "Or I shall draft a resolution formally condemning your atrocious behavior!"

The mayor kept talking, but Baby Rippen only kept laughing. He just continued on slamming her. "I said, put me down!" the mayors shouted.

The four heroes stared, hesitating and thinking for answers. "I know absolutely nothing about babies," Verge admitted. "You know, since I have *no* memory of them. Or, for any matter, any memory of me being a baby. Or since I wasn't here when Zero was a baby. Or—"

"Verge, stop torturing yourself," Penn warned, preventing her from remembering about her non-past. "Focus."

"I know how babies think," Sashi offered, picking a stick up and sharpening it. "I used to babysit my little brother."

Penn and Verge exchanged a glance. "They let you babysit?" he asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Sashi went and threw the sharpened stick, watching as it hit a rubber duck and made it sink.

"Sashi!" Verge scolded.

"What? It's not a real animal."

"Wow, Sash. It's still alive, you know."

"Oh, it'll live. Anyway, the thing about babies is they're very easily distracted.

Whenever my brother got some of my toys, I used one of his own, funner toys as bait, and lured him into the trap!"

"You sound like you're catching a fish, not distracting a child."

"No judgements, Divergent. Now, let's go teach those babies the meaning of _disappointment!"_

Sashi gave the team instructions. They were able to get a larger rattle and rope. Verge got Sashi and Boone up in a tree where they dangled the rattle, hoping to lure in the babies with it.

"_Boone and Sashi sittin' in a tree~" _Boone sang. _"~K-I-S-S—_OH! Whoa, I totally forgot where that song goes."

Sashi shushed him. "Come on baby~" she cooed. "Take the pretty rattle and seal your doom~"

Giant Baby Larry instantly took the rattle and shook it. Giant Baby Rippen saw him and seemed to want the rattle for himself. So he dropped the mayor and fought with Larry for the toy.

"Now's our chance!" Verge whispered to Penn behind the bushes. He nodded and they emerged, running for the mayor.

"Ah, Mayor Pink Panda?" Penn asked, helping her up. "We're here to save you!"

"Such bravery!" she gasped, impressed.

"OK," Verge said, readying her dust. "Just a touch will do the trick…"

"I shall see to it that you are awarded the key to the city!"

Before Verge could even do anything, the mayor was rattling the city keys, catching the babies' attention. Giant Baby Rippen cried out and got the mayor again.

As they tugged with Rippen, the mayor said, "This key comes with an honorary—"

She got cut off when Rippen finally got a grasp of her again, and successfully ripping both of Penn's arms in the process.

"Yeah," he sighed. "That seems about right."

"This is going to get old soon."

Verge used the shortcut and dusted her friends. They quickly flew to the emergency room and waited for Penn to have his arms re-attached. Sashi looked to her side and found the rubber duck she'd deflated earlier glare at her. "I told you they have life," Verge said.

"And I told you they'd live."

"Yeah, let's just check on Zero."

When they entered the room, Dr. Hissy had been talking to him. "You gotta hurry," he warned. "Things are getting' worse! Without the mayor, the signed paperwork, the sanitation workers haven't been paid and trash is pilin' out!"

"Penn," Boone started. "Allow this monkey to chuck a steaming pile of wisdom at you! I babysit my neighbor's kid all the time. Crying babies just wanna be fed. Whenever that baby makes a peep, I make with the food. Comin' in for a landing! Flight Baby Food to tower! We're runnin' on fumes! We've got a milk spill on the runway! You are not clear to land! Someone get me a juice box! I'll put in the straw myself!"

This story continued until they were back on the road. Verge sat on Penn's shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "You pretend to use planes for feeding entertainment? That certainly is amusing."

"Well, _duh,_ Verge. That's how we human babies like to roll."

"What I got from that," Penn said. "was we should feed the giant babies."

"With hardcore awesomeness!" Verge proclaimed. The other three blinked in confusion.

Verge managed to get the other plushie townsfolk to help them. They gathered giant spoons, baby food, and some airplanes, preparing them so they would be able to feed the babies with them. "Where do these giant baby items keep coming from, anyway?" Penn asked Verge.

"Dunno, really," she said. "I think they have like, a giant baby stash for emergencies or stuff. Either way, it's helpful."

Later on, three airplanes were taken into the air. They each had a spoonful of applesauce, ready to be launched. Verge sat by Penn's airplane controls, squinting down at the babies.

"Target spotted," she announced.

Boone then gave the signal. He went and dove in first. He went and used his goggles to scan the babies. Then, he turned it off.

"Boone," Sashi said, all serious-like. "You've switched off your targeting computer. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm all right."

He launched the spoon.

The applesauce was flying in the air. Baby Larry's mouth was wide open at that time. The food landed in perfectly.

"Unleash the sauce!" Verge screamed.

"Eat this!" Sashi shouted, launching her own food.

Unfortunately, Baby Rippen was too stubborn and wouldn't accept it.

"Ah! It's applesauce!" Penn yelled, going in. "Who doesn't like applesauce?!"

Apparently, Rippen. He caught Penn's plane and shook it vigorously. Baby Rippen enjoyed it quite a bit too much. He threw the plane at the others.

"Mayday! Mayday!" Boone shrieked.

Penn and Verge were screaming as the plane started to crash. "Bail out, bail out!" Sashi shouted.

"What bail?!" Verge yelled. Then she stopped. "Wait a minute, what are we doing?" She quickly sprinkled dust on Penn, helping him fly, and they got out of the vehicle. Verge quickly sprinkled dust on Sashi as well. They braced for cover as their two planes crashed into each other.

"Now, that's making chemistry." Verge said.

"Did you seriously make a joke at a time like this?" Sashi asked.

"I have to brighten the mood, don't I? And for the record, I saved your lives, be a bit grateful."

"Well, that could not have gone worse," Penn said. He said nothing as the airplane propeller came and cut his arm off again. Verge quickly got it before it fell to the ground.

"Again. Getting old."

After finding Boone, Verge directed her friends back into the emergency room. "We're runnin' out of time and thread, hero!" Dr. Hissy said. "Mayor's not here to approve the police but it's our law and order that's breaking down!"

Verge watched when a stuffed animal went and stole the Doctor's stethoscope. "Th- Hey! That was a gift!" Another stole his glasses. "Wh— A— Hey! I need those!" Another kicked him in the face and sent him flying. "I'm OK…"

The fairy, angered, took the plushie by the stuffed collar and glared into its eyes. "Don't go making me pull all your stuffing out of your trunk." she warned. It didn't make sense, but the plushie seemed to be intimidated enough.

"And there's the scary Verge," Sashi smirked.

"Thank you. Go get the mayor!" Dr. Hissy called.

"OK," Penn started. "Babies, babies, babies. Verge, you still don't have any ideas?"

She hesitated. "I do have one. But it sounds stupid."

"Isn't this the right moment to be accepting stupid ideas by now?"

"No, that's only after _you _give your ideas next," Boone pointed out.

"Hm. How do I deal with ba— Oh!"

"What is it?" Verge asked.

"Follow me!" Penn went outside the emergency room and his friends followed. They found a nice, quiet spot to make a call and Penn started his MUHU.

They first saw Brock and Vonnie running off into somewhere, a giant monster-alien following them. "Is this a good time to do this?" Verge asked, rather concerned.

"Sure, I guess. I hope." Penn turned to the screen. "Uh, Mom, Dad, real quick, um. When I was a baby, what did you do when I was angry?"

"You were never angry," Vonnie replied, grinning.

"You only ever fussed when you needed changing!" As Brock spoke, Vonnie went and threw a grenade at the monster. It immediately exploded.

"You did go through a lot of diapers, though."

Brock chuckled. "Yes, some days you were like a soft-serve ice cream machine with no off switch. Whew!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Verge asked.

For once, Penn was glad she didn't understand human metaphors. He quickly waved it off. "Nothing you need to know!" He looked at Boone and Sashi awkwardly, who understood the sentence. "Aside from all the gross parts, it sounds like those were pretty good times."

"The best," Vonnie agreed. "Remember, no matter how heroic you get, you'll always be our baby!"

"You guys are such a great family," Verge mumbled quietly.

Unfortunately, Vonnie heard. She smiled sweetly. "Verge, we know you aren't really our daughter. But for the past seven years, we have truly treated you like one. You too, must remember, you're always going to be a part of our family, no matter what." That made Verge smile.

"We have to jump for our lives, you two," Brock said. "But, not before a hug!"

As Penn and Verge had their arms out, the MUHU screen passed through, leaving a scene of Penn's parents taking away on a hot-air balloon. The call ended.

Verge was staring at the ground. What Vonnie said had really warmed her heart. Unfortunately, he moment ended when Sashi told Penn, "You pooped a lot."

"So I did," Penn said. "But it gives me an idea!"

Penn told Verge to get some giant baby diapers from that secret giant baby stash. She returned with a few, and they got back to Baby Rippen and Larry. However, once the heroes saw their diapers, their eyes widened.

"Yeah, we're not doing this."

Penn accidentally bumped into Sashi, once again starting that children's song in her internal structure. The babies got distracted, causing Baby Rippen to toss the mayor away.

"They dropped her, let's move!" Penn shouted.

"On it!" Verge flew off and quickly sprinkled dust on the mayor. She was lifted slightly off the ground. "Oh my!" she gasped.

As soon as she said that, Penn, Boone, and Sashi rolled right in with their red wagon. Verge placed the mayor in it. "Good day, your honour!" Penn greeted, as they drove through the babies. "Hang on tight, those diapers are full!"

They completely made it past the babies. Before they knew it, they arrived back at the town. "We got her!" Boone cheered. "We got the mayor!"

The townsfolk also cheered and hooted, but the happiness didn't last too long.

Everyone gasped when they heard footsteps. Large, giant footsteps. The giant babies were walking, and they were heading right for the city.

"You fools!" the mayor scolded. "You broke town order's 431E: Never lead giant babies to the village!"

"OK!" Penn practically shouted. "Verge, stupid idea time! What was your plan?"

The fairy felt uncomfortable, for she stopped flying and lowered herself to the ground. "It's going to be kind of silly and embarrassing…but whenever I had a nightmare, I always went to your mom whenever I needed comforting. She was always there, just holding me and telling me its all right."

That story made Penn feel a little sad. But it also gave him a little idea. "Wait! I got it!"

"You do?"

He grinned as he picked Verge up by her hand and called to the townsfolk. "Town plushies! Lend me your hands! The babies stop here!"

"Whoa, Zero!" Verge called, dangling from his hand. "What are you doing?"

"Form a line! With me!"

The townsfolk were confused, but they followed his command. "Yep, you're gonna lock your fingers. And if you don't have fingers, link your arms! You too, little giraffe!"

"You got it, Chief."

Verge was confused, but he linked arms with Penn. He looked at her and smiled.

"Trust me on this."

"…I do."

"What are you going to do?!" the mayor asked.

"Give the babies what every little rascal wants…_a hug!" _Verge had to grin at that. "Let's go!"

The plushies charged. "Town plushies…hug!"

They jumped, and surrounded the babies, tying them up like rope. The giant babies fell to the ground, crying. The plushies kept on squeezing and hugging. "It's working! Hug harder!"

"Yeah!" Verge cheered.

Suddenly, she noticed a tear in Penn's arm. They gasped. The babies started to cry again.

"For saving the day, I prescribe one Dr. Hissy!" Said doctor jumped right in and provided as the connector to Penn's arm. He and the fairy grinned in gratitude.

Now, the babies were fully calm now. Helicopters dropped in and dropped a giant baby crib on them. The town folks cheered in happiness as they broke the chain and escaped the crib.

"Thanks, heroes!" The mayor said thankfully. "We'll take it from here."

Penn saluted her with his broken arm. "It's our job," Verge said, smiling. They all went off into the town, the babies crying again behind the bars of the crib.

Verge was staring at Penn's arm the entire time until they arrived at the emergency room. "I fix that right up again," Dr. Hissy said.

"Doctor, do you mind if I do it this time?" Verge spoke up. Both he and Penn were surprised.

"Uh, of course. Don't take too long."

"We'll be waiting outside," Sashi said, smiling at the two. Boone waved. He, Sashi, and Dr. Hissy all exited the room, leaving Penn and Verge alone.

Verge flew to the drawers and took out some needle and thread. She used her time carefully as she started sewing up Penn's arm. "I thought you said you couldn't do this kind of stuff."

"Only 'cause I didn't have the right stuff with me. Your mom thought me how to sew before." Penn's face softened at the mention of his mother.

"Listen…I've been thinking about what Mrs. Vonnie said…how I'm also part of the family…" She sighed and looked up at Penn. "I'm really glad she said that. Because I truly have treated you guys as my own family. I care for you a lot, not only because you're my best friend, but you're like the brother I never had…"

Something in Penn's heart easened up at that. He smiled at the fairy widely and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Verge, I may not treat you as my sister," he admitted. "Because, well that would sort of be weird for me, but I _do _treat you as my family. I'm glad to have met you, and I'm glad we get to spend more time of our lives together."

Verge smiled. She was glad Penn told her that. "I really thought, after all these years, you still wouldn't accept me…"

"Are you kidding?" Penn chuckled. "When would we ever _not_ accept you?"

Verge laughed lightly. She then got some scissors and cut the thread. It was as good as new.

"Well, look at that! You're better than you said you are." He held his finger out. Verge stared at it and smiled before giving it a bump with her fist. Then she stared back at the ground.

"Zero…"

"Yeah?"

She looked up, smiling a bit. "I know this may not be as good as what you're hoping from your parents but…"

She went and wrapped her arms around Penn. He was surprised at first, but he instantly hugged her back. "Don't worry. It's just as good," he promised, hugging back tightly.


	6. That Purple Girl

**Episode 5: That Purple Girl**

* * *

**This episode was actually fun to write despite my hatred of the episode itself ^^**

* * *

At MCHS, there were many sports to behold. And on that day, it was a time of intensity. Boone panted, as he and Penn were running. Boone seemed to give up and collapse on the ground.

"Don't you quit on me!" Penn shouted, going back for him.

"Go!" Boone gasped. "And win this race! Win it for the both of us."

"No! We are winning this thing together!" Penn went and helped Boone up, carrying him. "We're...so...close!" They were right behind it, panting.

"You should not be this tired at the starting line," the coach said blankly, firing the starting gun. Boone collapsed completely.

"I'm not leaving you, buddy!" Penn proclaimed, rolling his best friend. "Yeah! Picking up speed now, huh?"

Meanwhile, Verge was on the bleachers, waiting for her friends to finish PE. This was one of those days where Verge decided to go full human and wait for her team at their school. Her wings were tucked behind a red sleeveless vest, so she didn't fly much today. She leaned back on the seats, raising an eyebrow as she waited with Sashi.

"They're not joking, are they?" she asked.

"Sometimes I like to think they are." Sashi muttered.

"Still, you gotta admit, their friendship is unbelievable, right?"

"Yes, I suppose it is. I wish I could say the same for us." Verge frowned. Sashi smiled. "Just kidding." Verge chuckled. "If only you enrolled here, so we could hang out more."

Verge shook her head. "Can't risk it. These wings are easily visible. Anyone could pull this vest off." At that, Sashi attempted and pulled at her vest. "Not cool, Sash!"

The girl laughed. "Yeah, well, you should still stay a human more."

Verge smiled. "Maybe I will when I feel like it." She looked up and saw the two best friends, now exhausted, and broken down. "Well I guess it's time to get them."

As if on cue, the school bell rang. Penn and Boone sighed in relief. The girls walked over, taking the boys and carried them, placing their arms over their shoulders.

Verge helped Penn up. "You still got energy for today's mission?"

Penn coughed and forced a smile. "Are you kidding? I've got more energy than you in my little finger!"

"Says the one who collapsed within ten feet from the starting line."

"Boone! You're too heavy!" The boy and the fairy turned to find Sashi struggling with said other.

"Sorry, Sash, I'm just so tired..."

"You're gonna make _me_ tired!"

Verge chuckled. She lightly threw some of her floating dust at him. Boone was able to hover just a centimeter off the ground. Sashi sighed with relief and gratitude. Penn smiled.

Once the boys got to the locker room and changed, they were able to leave school. They headed over to the Odyssey, Verge flying small-sized over them. Phyllis dropped in at their entrance.

"Hello, children," she said. "Good to see your human and fairy faces."

At that, Verge seemed to be so surprised that her wings stopped fluttering and she fell to the floor. Penn, Boone, and Sashi stared.

"What, I can't be in good mood?"

As Sashi picked Verge up, Penn spoke nervously. "Uh, no, we're just used to a far meaner version of yourself, I mean, look, you do have a 'Not Welcome' mat."

As soon as he said that, he immediately regretted it. Phyllis started ranting. "OK, end of good mood. Trying to change self for better, no respect from children. You want good mood, I'll give you good mood. Bad mood all day because of you!"

Before they knew it, she zapped them.

* * *

"You shouldn't have said that, Zero."

"What? It was true!"

Verge sighed and stared at her form. She was still a fairy, but she looked like an alien. Her skin was golden, she had two pointy ears on each side of her head, held a stick the size of a toothpick, and wore a red and blue dress entirely made out of leaves. It was rather different than the leaf clothes she wore back home. She was also barefoot, and around her forehead was a silver circlet.

"This world is weird."

"Tell me about it," Boone piped up. "Loincloths? We're either aliens, or maybe we're dancers."

Penn frowned. "Wh— What is this thing with you and dancers? Boone, we're not dancers. OK, Sash—"

He stopped when they realized Sashi wasn't around. All they saw was the giant beast they were flying on. "Sashi? Hello?"

"Hello. Down here."

Still nothing. That's when Verge noticed the beast was her. However, the boys weren't catching on.

"All I see is this hideous beast."

"It must've eaten her!" Boone gasped.

"Don't worry, Sashi! We'll get you out of this vile, putrid..."

"Oozy, warty..."

"Guys," Sashi warned.

"Unintelligent,"

"Reekfest, stink-burger-"

"Guys! It's _me_! _I'm_ the stink-burger!"

Penn and Boone paused for a moment and started bursting out into laughter. "Oh, boy," Verge said as she flew higher.

It was good she did. Sashi threw them in the air and flipped her tail at the boys, causing them to fly off. They screamed as they landed in pain. Sashi growled at them.

"You're breath is so bad, I'm picking it up with all five senses!" Penn said.

"That's a bit too intense, Zero."

"It's true!"

Sashi rolled her eyes and checked the Specs. "All right, a peaceful alien princess is lost, in the dangerous lands of the evil alien Cronut tribe. Our mission is to find and escort her back to her people."

"That's it?" Penn asked. "Give some fancy lady a ride home? Piece of ca—" He cut himself off when he saw someone emerging from the bushes. It was the Princess. Penn was staring at her in a rather dream-like way.

"We found the Princess!" Verge declared, not seeming to notice Penn's staring.

Boone walked over. "Penn, what are you daydreaming about-" He also cut off and was staring at the Princess. He was in a daydream daze too.

"This is the greatest moment of my life," they said together.

OK. Weird.

But Verge noticed nothing. She flew over to the Princess, all friendly-like. "Hello, Princess," she greeted. "We have come for you."

"Saviors?" she asked, smiling sweetly. "How wonderful. I am Princess Alrgelbaccch Blunkenthorttthhhop."

"Such a beautiful name," Penn said. Boone nodded in agreement.

"In nature, all things are beautiful, especially my name."

"Ah, uh, me and my best friend here have come to save you. Along with the fairy and that." Verge frowned and looked up at Sashi, who growled.

"Blessed be your arrival! I rule over the Purple People of the East! My light sustains our soul and protects our bodies." Penn and Boone had a closer look at the purple light.

Verge waved a hand through it. "I think it should be fine."

"I hope so. You brave warriors must protect me from the evil orange Cronuts who wish to steal my light to power a weapon capable of wiping out our forest!"

"Then maybe you should have left your stupid diva light at home," Sashi said blankly.

Before Verge could say anything, Penn already spoke up. "Hey, whoa, whoa! This isn't the blame game! Don't worry Princess, you're in good hands...strong, rugged, green hands."

"Yeah," Boone agreed. "No one taking your adorable light. Not on my watch or whatever you tell time with here. Looks like a sundial kind of place so not on my sundial." Penn growled at that.

By then, Verge realized there was something wrong with her friends. They were acting very...different.

"The spirit of the forest shows me you're surrounded by the aura of honor, nobility, and strength," the Princess said. "Careful with my bags."

Penn and Boone took one look at the large pile of luggage and started arguing over who could carry the most bags.

Sashi hissed again. Verge was still confused. She flew over to Sashi and asked, "Hey, Sash. What's up with Boone and Zero?"

Sashi scoffed. "That, my friend, is called infatuation. Right now, those idiots think they're in love with the princess. But they're just fawning over her looks."

It was brief, but Verge understood completely. "Oh."

"Annoying, isn't it? Prepare yourself and have a close look about what 'fussing' is."

"Why?"

"They're going to try and win her affection. That's what happens when two boys fall for the same girl."

Verge nodded slowly. She understood, and she didn't like it. At all.

They carried on their walking. Penn and Boone practically had their eyes glued on the Princess the entire time. By nightfall, both of the girls had enough of her.

"Keep it together, Sashi," she said to herself. "Don't eat the princess."

"For once I'll actually let you do something violent and stupid," Verge muttered.

"Tempting. But if we get her home with her dead body, we'll fail the mission."

"It's not really failing if you're the one who wanted it to happen."

"...Again, tempting."

The Princess suddenly stopped walking once she saw an open area. "I will require a shelter," she said, making a fire with her light. "To protect me from nature's wondrous gifts."

"I shall build you a shelter, Princess," Boone said.

"Actually," Penn cut in. "I should probably build a shelter."

"You couldn't build your face."

"Well, that doesn't make any sense."

"Your face doesn't make sense."

"Repeating what I say with the word face in it is not a comeback."

"My comeback coach would disagree."

"You have a comeback coach?"

"Yeah, Mr. Hartuean, the janitor?"

"Guys!" Verge shouted, flying over and getting annoyed. "Enough!"

"Maybe I'll stop if Boone would stop being annoying."

"Maybe I'd stop if Penn's face would stop getting annoying."

"This is getting nowhere." Verge rubbed her temples. "Sash, help me out here."

But it seemed like she was too busy glaring at the Princess. "The water spirits are crying out for me to drink them," she said. "Will you heed their call, beast?"

"I know you didn't just call me beast!" Sashi screamed.

"Did you forget how to hear, beast?"

"That's it!" Sashi opened her mouth to feed, but the Princess had other plans.

"Fetch, beast. I'll give you this nasty treat."

"I'm not some dog!"

Unfortunately, she apparently was. The Princess waved the treat near her and she fell for it. "Sash, no! Don't give in!" Verge shouted. But she already returned with two buckets of water. The Princess gave her the food and Sashi ate it happily. A fart came out of her ears.

"Gross," Verge said, making a face. Sashi blushed a bit.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself."

"OK, I've just had about enough!" Verge transformed to human size, lowered herself and faced the Princess. "You've been taking control of my friends this entire trip! I have a feeling you're not done!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about, fairy."

"Don't play dumb with me! You've been taking advantage of everyone since we met!"

"Well, I am a Princess, and princesses must always get their way."

Verge was just about to make a comeback when she stopped herself. Something about what she said made Verge freeze. It was like experiencing déjà vu. And something in Verge's heart and mind wanted to scream out a memory.

"No… It's not..." She stared until the Princess walked away, believing she'd won.

"Divergent?" Sashi asked, concerned.

Verge finally snapped out if it and faced Sashi. "Huh? Oh...sorry."

"Don't be. I appreciate you standing up for the team. But I think we need to worry about those two more."

Sashi nudged with her head as Verge looked at Penn and Boone tried to impress the Princess with the tents they made. As she rejected and burned them down, the boys argued.

"Stop ruining this for me," Boone whispered. "I think the Princess likes me."

"You?" Penn scoffed. "She just burned down your tent!"

"Only to be polite 'cause she was burning down yours!"

"We'll just see who she's being polite to." They glared at each other. This was war.

"I don't like this, Sash," Verge said. "Not one bit."

"Me neither. We gotta hold it in."

"Oh, beast! Fairy! I need another shelter!"

"I hope you like sleeping on the ground!" Verge sang out.

* * *

The next morning, Verge woke up on Sashi's back to the sound of music. Boone was playing some panpipes for the Princess. However, she was delighted to see Penn conducting some birds to sing for her instead. They stopped after their mother came and took him away.

"Oh, wings." Verge immediately stood up and flew towards the bird quickly. Penn was screaming in fright.

Verge faced the bird and grew to human size. "All right, calm down buddy," Verge soothed. "Just drop the crazy alien for me, will you?" It screeched. "Don't worry, he won't bother your kids again."

At that, the bird let go. Penn shrieked again, but not until Verge caught him.

"Whew, thanks Verge!"

"What were you thinking?"

"What else? Oh, hey, can we land over there? I think the Princess likes flowers!"

Verge was reluctant, but she did as he asked. She landed in an area wherein there were flowers all around. "Yeah, good luck over here," Without waiting for a reply, she took off.

Sash was already awake by the time Boone finished his song. "Where's Penn?" she asked.

"Collecting flowers," Verge yawned. "Any sign of Cronuts?"

"Nope. I can't tell if that should be good or not."

"Heh. Anyway, what's for breakfast?"

"I caught one of the birds and killed it." To prove her point, she held up one of Penn's conducting birds proudly.

Verge stared at it and frowned. "And I told its mother it wouldn't be bothered..." Sashi rolled her eyes playfully.

The fairy fixed breakfast up rather quick. She sure hoped the Princess wouldn't complain too much. "Breakfast is served!" Verge called out.

"Just a minute!" the Princess replied, smelling a rose. "I am eager to take a whiff of nature's beautiful aromas."

"Oh, Princess!" Penn's voice called. She looked up and saw him handing a bouquet of flowers to her as he smirked.

However, Boone arrived with an even bigger arrangement. The Princess grinned. Penn glared. Bees escaped from his bouquet and Boone shrieked, slamming them down. Unfortunately, that included Penn. Boone smiled innocently.

"Perhaps the first meal if the day will be delightful," the Princess said, walking for her breakfast. Boone followed her dreamily.

Verge walked over to the large bouquet and pulled Penn out of it. "Giving up yet?"

"Not even close."

Verge sighed. She and Penn walked over to Sashi. Everyone ate their breakfast. Penn and Boone were both glaring at each other and daydreaming at the Princess at the same time.

"I think I lost my appetite." Sashi grumbled.

"Me too," Verge agreed, finding herself watching Penn.

The Princess finished her food and stood. "If we must continue on our journey, I will require a royal carrier to lift me, so I may be able to rest on the way."

Verge stuttered. "What the dust? You just woke up!"

"After all the music-listening and flower-smelling, you can't possibly expect me to keep my energy." At that, Verge hissed. Actually hissed.

"I can make your carriage, Princess!" Penn proclaimed. "Just look at my strength!"

With that, he lifted a big rock over his head. He smirked widely as the Princess sat and watched, impressed.

Boone scoffed. "Please!" He went and did the same thing, but with a much bigger rock.

However, the rock almost immediately fell over him. Penn laughed in triumphant but the same thing happened to him.

"I shall be waiting, then," the Princess said, walking away.

Once she was gone, Sashi flicked the rocks away and Verge picked her friends up. "What is wrong with you two?" she practically shouted. "You're letting the Princess get to your heads!"

"We can't stop now, Vergie," Boone said, a little dizzy. "The Princess is close to choosing one of us."

"And that will be me," Penn added.

"No, it'll be me!"

"Ha! In your dreams!"

"That's it!" Verge shouted out. "I can't take this anymore! If you want to escort the Princess, fine! I'm gonna take a walk."

She didn't wait for a reply. She just flew away from the campsite and into the forest.

The fairy sighed. Finally some peace and quiet. And time to think. She placed a hand over her heart. Ever since yesterday, it's been pounding rapidly. She couldn't tell anyone about it, since they were mostly walking all over the place for the Princess. Verge wanted to know what it meant...

"It's not really a walk if you're flying." Verge turned to find Sashi walking up to her, smirking. "You were always one for dramatic exits."

Verge chuckled. "Yeah, well, I had enough drama for two days. The boys can't get over themselves!"

"Tell me about it. They started having a fight over who can carry Little Miss Selfish longer."

"All this for one beautiful girl..." Verge felt her heart pound again. She really didn't like not knowing this feeling.

But Sashi seemed to have noticed. "You OK, Verge?"

"Oh, yeah...my heart's just beating like crazy...it started ever since we met the Princess..."

Sashi seemed to smile a bit at that. "I think I know what this is all about."

Verge stared. "You do?"

"Mm-hmm. It's called jealousy, my winged-friend."

"Jealous?" Verge echoed. "Of what?"

"Of the Princess' looks. Just because of her 'gorgeous face', she's been getting all the attention from the boys. Makes you wish you were her, huh?" Verge said nothing. "Well, I'm telling you now. That weak, thickheaded primadonna isn't worth being jealous over. She may be beautiful on the outside, but her heart is not as pure as yours. You are beautiful both inside and out."

That made the fairy smile widely. It was like she was on the verge of tears. "Thank you, Sashi," she said. "I know it's cliché, but I could say the same for you." The female beast grinned.

"Besides," Sashi added. "That Princess can never compete with your cuteness." And that sentence made Verge laugh in happiness and hug her friend.

However, despite all she said, Verge knew in her heart that she wasn't just jealous of the Princess. There was something deeper to her feelings that she didn't quite understand yet…

Maybe if Verge searched deep enough, she'd find it.

Suddenly, Verge's fairy senses started tingling. Her ears perked up and she heard something. She pulled away and listened.

"What is it?" Sashi asked, but Verge shushed her. The fairy heard familiar screaming.

"Follow me." Together, the fairy took off into the sky with Sashi following. They suddenly saw a familiar-looking ship and familiar-looking people.

"Cronuts!" Sashi exclaimed. The two flew over to their friends wondering why they weren't doing anything.

That's when they noticed Penn and Boone were too tired from carrying the Princess. Sashi hissed at that.

Verge was face-red mad. "Larry, take this spoiled Princess' light," Rippen commanded. The Princess stared in horror.

"No!" Verge flew forward and lifted her arms. Vines from below grew upwards and wrapped Larry around his wrists, stopping him from pulling the trigger.

"Huh?" he questioned. He was answered when Sashi stomped on him. "Did we win or was I horribly stopped and crushed?"

The fairy and beast turned to Rippen. "Holy stink-burger, that thing's hideous!" he gasped.

"Hey!" Verge defended.

"No, I meant the monster."

"Like I said. Hey!" Verge grew more vines, tying the villain up as well. Sashi slammed her tail on him and threw him away.

Sashi and Verge picked up the three and they flew off. "Hey, you guys saved us!" Penn said, smiling gratefully.

But Verge wouldn't look at him. She crossed her arms and turned away. "Verge?" the boy asked, but got no reply.

"Nice going, geniuses!" Sashi shouted. "You were so busy impressing the Princess, you almost got us killed! If it weren't for Verge—"

Penn cut her off. "So, wait, are you saying I impressed her?"

"No, I think she's saying I impressed her," Boone corrected.

"You both impressed me!" the Princess cried. They then realized they had finally arrived at the Princess' homeland. "My forest people! I know it was hard to be without me, but I am back!"

"...Yay," the people cheered blankly.

"And it's all thanks to these heroes, their fairy, and their foul, hideous beast!"

"Mission over," Verge and Sashi said together.

"Goodbye, stupid princess."

"Mother Forest, Father Forest, and the entire forest extended family have presented me with two, worthy suitors. But which will I choose?"

"Please be me, please be me, please be me," Penn and Boone said together.

"The brave, courageous soul who has won my heart is the one...who slays the death-eater in a blood battle for my affection in a cage match versus the Grinkol!"

"Huh?"

Before Penn and Boone knew it, the ground suddenly collapsed beneath them. Sashi and Verge were able to avoid it by flying but gasped when their friends weren't so lucky.

"Penn! Boone!" they exclaimed. They tried flying to them, but were stopped by a force field. "Great, now I know how annoying these things are." Verge grumbled, pushing. The Princess smirked in the background.

As the boys stood, an ugly monster emerged from the entrance. It roared at its opponents. The boys took one look at it and their eyes widened.

"We are going to die!"

"No you're not, stupids!" Sashi screamed. "Just work together!"

"Use the power of friendship!" Verge shouted. "Friendship is magic!"

"...Did you just—"

"Yes, yes I did."

"Sashi and Verge are right!" Penn said. "When we work together, nothing can stop us!"

"Let's do this!" Boone agreed.

They got into battle stance...and the Death-Eater punched them into a wall. It roared again, lifting a rock.

"No!" Verge shouted, pushing deeper into the force field.

"It's not working," Sashi said, concerned for her friends.

"Boone, look," Penn said. "I was a real jerk today. I let an insanely gorgeous beautiful alien lady with a light thing in her hand come between me and my BFFFF. And it was stupid. But if this is it for us, I want you to know that your friendship means more to me than anything in the world, and—"

Boone shushed him. "We let a lady get between us, and it turns you into a raging jerk face. But it's OK, I forgive you, because I love you."

"I love you too."

"Super emotional near-death man hug?"

"Super emotional near-death man hug."

As they hugged and cried, the Death-Eater roared and prepared to throw the rock.

Verge couldn't watch this. "Fairy power!" she yelled out.

Using her own magic, she created her own force field and used it to bust through. Once the rock was thrown, Verge flew in front of it, causing the rock to shatter. "Verge!" the boys shouted.

"I will not let you hurt my friends!" the fairy yelled, going up in the Death-Eater's face.

It only growled...and made a face of disgust. "Do you yield?" it asked, crossing its arms.

"You can yield?" Boone asked.

"You can talk?" Penn gasped.

"Of course I can talk! Just because I'm a vile, hideous beast doesn't mean I can't talk!" He turned to Sashi. "Am I right or am I right, my grotesque sister?"

Sashi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I hate this mission."

"Yield, yield, yield!" the boys cried.

The people cheered. "I accept!" the monster said, turning to the crowd. "Mom! I won the Princess' heart! We're gettin' married!"

"That's my boy!" his mother cheered.

"What?!" Before the Princess knew it, the Death-Eater took hold of her and started nuzzling.

Sashi, who flew to her friends, now smirked. "OK...maybe I don't hate this mission."

Verge laughed. Penn turned to her, smiling a bit. She caught his eye and raised an eyebrow.

"Thanks for saving us," he said.

The fairy only shrugged. "Not the first time." When he said nothing, she added, "I'm glad you're not dead."

Penn smiled. "I'm glad you're not angry anymore."

"I'm glad you're not a lovesick zombie anymore."

Penn smirked. "Did we really act like that?"

"You have no idea. I thought we'd lost you."

"Well, I'm back now."

Verge smiled. Just to test it out, she shrunk and stuck her fist out. Penn grinned back and instantly bumped it with his finger. There was a flash of blue, and the heroes were zapped back home.

* * *

As they stepped off the platform, Verge turned to Penn again. "About the Princess..." she said slowly. "Did you really think it would work out for you two?"

The boy frowned a bit. "Well...not really," He rubbed the back of his head. "I guess she was like a distraction from the person I really like..."

Verge raised her eyebrows. "Yeah? Who is it?"

Penn only smirked. "I don't tell you everything."

"Hey! That's my line! Come on, Zero, we're best friends!" The fairy flew around him, hoping to get him to crack.

The boy turned away and smiled smugly. "No can do, Verge. You're not making me break." He glanced over his shoulder...and blushed.


	7. Oh My Rock!

**Special Episode: Oh My Rock!**

* * *

**I actually had fun making my own episode uvu It'd be nice if my ideas would become episodes in the future (but then I'd have to re-write this)**

**I also sort of feel bad that no one's favoriting this story. I guess I understand. Not many people like OC stories. I appreciate the reviews though :) But I really hope I get at least some followers out of this and I hope this chapter isn't so stupid. Enjoy the ep!**

* * *

"_Ah-chu!" _Verge sneezed as she covered her mouth with her handkerchief blanket. "Ah, wings…"

"Easy there, Verge," Penn warned, tucking her in again. "You better use a tissue or your cold will get worse."

It wasn't a very normal day like usual. Divergent had gotten a cold. A very, rare fairy cold. It was on a Saturday too. She could barely move her own body, much less her wings. She was basically a tiny little body of uselessness at the moment, and she didn't like it at all. Luckily, Penn had taken the time to take care of her. They were in his bedroom, with Divergent lying in her matchbox bed as usual.

"I don't even understand how I got a cold in the first place," Verge groaned.

Penn hesitated as he flashbacked.

* * *

"_We have to get that key!" Sashi shouted out. The quartet was in an Abominable Snowman World, where literally everything was made of snow and littered with Abominable Snowman. Their mission was to retrieve a secret treasure from Snowman Rippen and Larry, who had kept it hidden in an icy safe. However, one of the Snowmen had swallowed the key._

"_I'm on it!" Verge cried out, determined. Without warning, she transformed to her small size. When a snowman roared, she entered it through the mouth._

"_Verge!" Penn shouted. The snowman was confused, but he roared again._

_However, he stopped mid-roar and fainted when Verge escaped through its snowy chest. The Ice Key was in her hand._

"_Success!" she shouted in victory. _

"_And gross," Boone said, disgusted. Penn and Sashi made a face._

* * *

"OK, I now see reason," Verge said bluntly.

Penn smirked as he held a bowl of chicken soup and a tiny doll's spoon. "Say 'ah'," he said playfully.

"Who are you, my mom?"

"Well, I do live with you and treat you like _family _so open up and let me feed you."

"This is embarrassing."

"Do you want to get better or not?"

"You don't have to do this, you know."

"Of course I do! It's rare for a fairy to get a cold! Especially you, since this is like, your first one ever. You know, after we found you six years ago."

"Yeah, I can see th— _Ah-chu!"_ Verge sneezed, taking a piece of tissue and blew on it.

"See?" Penn held the spoon out. Verge gave in and sipped it. "You're more stubborn than usual, aren't you?"

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"You sure you don't want to go human size and stay in my bed?" Penn asked, concerned.

"No, really, I'm good. Fairy colds take a while to go away and you wouldn't have any place to sleep until I get better." She sneezed again. "Fairy colds can also be a bit contagious…"

The young hero wasn't paying attention. "It's cute the way you sneeze, it's just like a kitten!"

Verge rolled her eyes. "Thanks, I guess…seriously, you might catch a cold too!"

"I'm not going to let my best friend and fairy guide waste away in her matchbox just because of a little cold." Penn fed her another spoonful of soup.

"But I can take care of myself!"

"Says the one who refuses to transform to human size."

"Yeah, well, being small becomes a habit."

As soon as she said that, Boone and Sashi entered Penn's bedroom. They had come to visit their little friend. "Hey, Verge!" Boone greeted. "How's our favorite fairy?"

"I'm the only fairy you know, Boone," Verge laughed lightly.

"Hope the cold isn't going to weaken up all that fairy toughness," Sashi said, smirking.

"Ha! No w—" Verge sneezed.

"Aww!" Boone cooed. "The way you sneeze is just adorable."

"She's not looking any better, guys," Penn sighed. "It doesn't look like she's going to get any healthier soon."

"Poor Verge."

"What do you mean I won't get healthy?" Verge asked, offended. "All I need is rest, right? I'll be good in no time!"

"But Verge—" Sashi started.

"No buts. You guys go ahead and start work. By the time you get back, I'll be up and flying before you know it!"

Penn, Boone, and Sashi exchanged a glance. "If you say so," Penn said.

"Good. Now, I'm gonna get a nap. Have a good zap for me today, all right?"

"Sure…"

"Oh, wait," Verge reached into her bed and pulled out a pouch. "It's light, but it should probably be useful in a tight situation. Don't open it until you really need it."

Penn took the pouch from her, a bit confused. But he trusted the fairy, and the gifts she gave him. "I'll make sure to keep it in mind," he promised. "Thanks."

The fairy smiled and turned to her side by the window. She was snoring before they even left. The three exited Penn's bedroom, slightly frowning. "Gosh, I feel bad for Verge," Boone said.

"Me too," Penn admitted. "But hey, we can take care of her again after we get back from our mission. Hopefully she'll be at least a bit better by the time we return."

The three entered the Odyssey to once again find Phyllis waiting for them. "I see the fairy has not come for today's mission," she noticed.

"She's sick," Boone explained.

"And we were just wondering where we're going to be zapping today," Penn added. "We were hoping our first mission without Verge would be…I dunno, a little less exciting than usual?"

Phyllis shrugged. "Is nowhere special at all." She started the MUT and the dimension appeared before them.

"What is that?" Sashi asked. They seemed to be staring at a place where lots of rocks were scattered around a garden-like area.

"Like said, nothing special," Phyllis replied. She pressed a button and the MUT zapped them in.

* * *

Penn opened his eyes to find him surrounded by rocks. _Rocks. _There were rocks _everywhere._ From up close, he really looked like he was in a rock garden. He frowned.

"Phyllis wasn't kidding," Penn said. He then looked at his clothes and found himself wearing a caveman's clothes. "Are we from the Ice Ages?"

"More like the Rock Ages," Boone said, walking up to him. He was wearing something similar to what he was wearing. "This place is weird. It's like they're trying to grow rocks."

Boone gestured at the townsfolk of the dimension and saw that they were caring for the rocks as if they were pets or children. They actually saw someone kiss a rock. Penn and Boone got weirded out.

"Everyone here is a nutjob," Sashi grumbled. She too was wearing cavewoman's clothes and had a bone in her hair to tie it up.

"Then again, we don't even know what our mission is," Penn reasoned. "So, Sash, check the Specs."

"All right. Apparently, we are 'rock guards' and we have jobs as protecting the precious magic stones from the Rock Garden of Stonesville."

"Did you say magic stones?" Boone asked, intrigued.

"Yes. Each stone has a magical property that is based on different situations. One of them actually has the power to take over the human race. Our mission is to find that rock and make sure it is safely protected."

"Seems simple enough. Find a rock, find a safe place for it. We can do that, right Penn?"

"Hold up," Penn said slowly. "If these rocks have magical powers and stuff…then maybe one of them has the power to cure Verge's cold!"

"Hey, that's a great idea!"

"What?" Sashi frowned.

"I mean, it's logic enough! Let's find a rock that can cure her sickness! Then she really will get better when we come back."

Sashi sighed. "Penn, I care about Verge as much as you do, but we have to focus on the job first. This rock is very powerful, and we have to make sure it doesn't get into the wrong hands of the—"

They were interrupted by a roar. The three turned to find a herd of raging dinos, galloping for the rock garden. The townsfolk screamed and made a run for it.

"These people are horrible guards!" Sashi shouted, clutching a spear as she fought some of the dinosaurs back.

Penn and Boone were also fighting, but there were simply too many of them. The herd of dinos got past the rock fence surrounding the garden and went for the stones. As they sniffed, Penn noticed something amidst the herd. A giant T-Rex seemed to be laughing at them.

"It could be any of them!" Dino Rippen shouted. "So just take all of them!"

The dinos took action and started storing the rocks in their mouths. They gathered some of them and started making a break for it.

"Hey, hey!" Penn shouted. He and his friends started attacking some of the dinos, forcing them to choke out the rocks they had. Unfortunately, they couldn't get all of them.

"At least we saved some rocks," Sashi grumbled, as they gathered about ten stones. "But I doubt any one of them could be the rock Rippen wants. Or, for any matter, the rock that could cure Verge."

"Then we have to find his hideout," Penn said. "We'll find it, get the rocks back, and save the day as usual!"

"If Verge were here, she could find the hideout easily," Boone mumbled.

Penn frowned at that. "There's no use thinking like that, Boone. We'll find Rippen. Right now, any suggetions?"

"Well, he could be in that volcano up there."

Boone pointed upwards, and he was right. It was just standing there, smoke coming out of it, as if ready to erupt soon. "They put a town that protects magical rocks beside an active volcano?" Penn questioned.

"This world is a weird place, huh?"

"The volcano seems like a perfect place for a dino to plot his plan to take over human race," Sashi agreed.

"Let's get going then!" Penn declared.

The three headed for the volcano and immediately started hiking up. It was taller than they expected. They were only a few meters upwards and they already got exhausted. They were already gasping for breath before they knew it.

"If Verge were here," Boone wheezed. "She'd have us fly up already by now."

"We've climbed mountains before!" Penn panted. "How can this be any different?"

"It's probably just getting depressing for us..."

They finally reached the volcano's cave. "Finally," Penn gasped. "Wow, that took longer that we thought it would."

"This is not the time to rest!" Sashi shouted, though it was obvious she was just as worn out. "We need to find the dinosaur army. They're at the heart of the volcano, which is where the lava would be coming from. If we find it, we find the dinos. We find the dinos, we get the rocks."

"Sounds simple enough," Penn encouraged, grinning. "Let's go! Into the heart of the volcano!"

They entered the cave. It was just a simple, narrowing hall as they walked. It didn't last long, though. A few moments later, they reached a bridge.

"Who would have the time to build a bridge in a volcano?" Boone asked.

"They'd have to," Sashi said. "Unless you want to fall in that."

She pointed to the bridge's abyss and underneath, they saw molten lava. It was oozing, and bursting, and definitely looked boiling hot. "OK, I understand they realize safety is important."

"Let's cross," Penn started, but was immediately stopped by a giant green hand. The three looked up and gasped when they saw a giant green troll.

"None shall pass the bridge!" the troll proclaimed. "There have already been inhabitants in this here volcano! There is no need for more!"

"Yeah, well, here's the thing," Penn said slowly. "We're kinda on a mission here, and it's really important, because, unless we don't stop those 'inhabitants', everything you know that lives and breathes is going to die." He smiled innocently.

"Hmm…" the troll hesitated. "Very well. However, before I may let you cross, you must answer a riddle."

"Why do I feel like I'm having deja vu," Sashi mumbled.

The troll cleared his throat. He opened his mouth, and he spoke out his riddle:

_It's hard to win over, it's easy to lose_

_It's easy to fall for, but it's hard to choose_

_With gaining one's trust, you think you've got it all_

_But you might lose that all if you make the wrong move_

"What kind of riddle is that?" Boone asked, obviously confused.

"I know a thing or two about riddles," Sashi spoke up. "They always have a secret meaning in their words. Sometimes, there's a twist. Be careful…"

The three hesitated. Something about the riddle made Penn pause. He actually had a feeling about what the answer to the riddle was.

"This is going to sound crazy but…is it love?"

The troll raised an eyebrow and hesitated. "Love?" Boone asked. "Yeah, you're right. It _is_ st—"

"That is correct."

"What."

"You may pass."

Penn grinned. "Why, thank you good troll."

"How did you get it right, PZ?" Sashi asked.

He smiled and turned to her. "It's hard to make someone love you, and when you do, you can easily lose it. It's always easy to fall in love. But it's hard to find the right, true person to fall in love with. When you gain someone's trust, you gain their love. But if you break that trust, you lose the person."

"Wow, Penn," Bonne commented. "Didn't think you had this kind of side in you."

"I learned a thing or two back from the alien dimension. And I guess, six years of living with Verge actually thought me something…" At the mention of his friend, he sighed. "Let's go, shall we?"

The troll moved out of the way for them and they hurried down the bridge. The hall continued on, and Sashi said, "We're getting closer to the center of the volcano!"

"How can you even tell?" Boone questioned.

"I can feel it! Can't you notice it getting hotter?"

"Yes!" Penn agreed. "We're near! Just have to—"

He stopped and skidded to a halt, his friends bumping into him. They had arrived. The team gasped at what they saw.

In the center, the lava was boiling. It really looked like it was about to burst out of the volcano any moment. The dinos weren't making things any better. The dinosaur herd was testing out the rocks. They were biting at the stones lightly, hoping to see which rock was the one they were looking for. Dino Rippen was on a higher ledge, watching his workers. "Keep working!" he commanded. "The faster we find that rock, the faster we can take over Stonesville!"

"How do they even find out which rock is the taking-over-the-world rock?" Penn asked.

"It would start glowing at first touch, apparently," Sashi explained. "No one can find it at first sight, but the Specs know what it is."

"And that is?"

"It's the rock with the big golden W on it."

They scanned for the stone. "There it is!" Boone shouted out, pointing. It was right in the center of the dino herd.

"How are we going to get there?" Sashi asked.

Penn hesitated. He looked to the side and then other entrances on the other sides of the volcano. Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Hey, Boone," Penn whispered. "Ever wanted to be bait?"

"No. Why?"

Before he knew it, the wiseman was pushed out into the open. "You so owe me for this, Penn!" he shouted.

"It's one of Penn Zero's sidekicks!" Rippen shouted. "Get him!"

The dinos turned to Boone and bared their fangs. He shrieked his girly-like scream and took off into the entrances. All of the dinosaurs ended up following him, including Rippen and Larry.

"Now's our chance!" Penn and Sashi took off into the center of the volcano and lifted the rock.

"We did it!" Sashi cheered. "Quick, let's get out of here!"

"Sash, wait!" Penn stopped her. "Can you scan the rocks for the stone that can cure any sickness?"

"Penn, there's no time!"

"Yes there is! Boone can hold off long enough!"

Sashi gritted her teeth and just did as she asked. "It's the one with the golden polka dots."

"I see it!" Penn dropped the power stone and quickly picked the polka-dotted one up.

"Hurry!" Once they had both stones, they started running out from where they entered.

"There's the bridge!" Penn shouted, as they started to run across it.

But they were blocked. The dino herd was running for them. "Go back!" Penn shouted again, but it was also blocked.

It was too late. They were surrounded.

A laugh sounded out and Dino Rippen walked up to them. "Is it me, or am I experiencing déjà vu?" he sneered.

"What did you do with Boone?" Sashi demanded.

"He's under safe claws. And so will you be! You, Penn Zero, will witness me destroy the Rock of Power by throwing it into the lava, and take over Stonesville! And, soon after that, the entire dimension!"

Rippen laughed his evil laugh. Penn and Sashi gasped in horror.

The dinos used bone handcuffs to tie their hands behind them, and they were directed back to the center of the volcano. Boone was there, waiting, as a dino guard stood about five feet behind him with a close eye. "Sorry, guys," he said. "Guess I didn't run fast enough."

"It's not your fault, Boone," Penn sighed.

He watched as the dinos gathered around Rippen's ledge, as he stood there grinning evilly, Larry by his side, as he held his stone.

"I was delayed. I used some of the time to look for the stone for Verge. It's the MUHU situation all over again…"

Sashi and Boone looked at each other. "If we know Verge well, which we do," Sashi started. "We'd know she wouldn't want you to stand around blaming yourself. She also wouldn't want you to be risking a mission just for her."

Penn smiled a bit. "You're right, Sash, thanks. We'll finish this mission and do it right. For Verge."

"For Verge."

Rippen stood over the lava, proudly holding the rock. "With this very stone, we can now create the dawn of the risen dinosaurs!" he declared. His herd roared in unison.

Penn gritted his teeth. "We're running out of time! What do we do about the guard?"

Boone actually grinned slyly. "Since this isn't a cage, and we know almost all about dinosaurs from that crazy cowboy world, we know by now that dinos are easily distracted. Like babies."

He cleared his throat and glanced behind him. "Oh, dino! I think my bonecuffs are a little tight! Mind loosening them up?"

The dino was confused but he went and helped Boone anyway. Before he could even touch the cuffs, Boone kicked him in the gut. Catching on, Sashi kicked his face down as the guard stumbled to the floor. Penn picked up the bone keys from the hurriedly unlocked the cuffs from their hands.

However, Rippen was just a centimeter away from throwing the rock into the boiling hot lava. "There's no time to get over there and stop Rippen!" Sashi exclaimed.

"Wait!" Penn gasped. "Maybe there is!"

He reached for his belt and pulled out Verge's pouch. He immediately opened it, and light hit his face. Fairy dust. Penn smiled.

But this was no time for memories. He ran for the center, took a pinch of dust and threw it.

The moment Rippen let go of the power stone, the dust caught it, and it started to fly. "No!" Rippen shouted, reaching for it. But the rock was out of his reach now.

"Yeah!" Penn cheered, the stone now in his hands. "Who's got the rock? I do!"

But apparently Rippen had other plans. "I don't think so!" Rippen shouted. "Now, Larry!"

The minion had another rock with him and he used it to throw it at Penn. Once it hit the ground and broke, it caused a loud earthquake. Everything in the volcano shook, including the lava.

"Whoa!" Penn lost his balance and dropped the stone into the lava. He gasped, thinking it might be the end. But the rock didn't break. It landed on one of the edges within the lava abyss. The hero sighed. He still had a chance.

As the dino herd roared and started to exit the volcano, Penn slowly made his way into the lava hole, hoping to reach for the stone. "Almost…got it…!"

"Not so fast!" Rippen made his way to the lava hole and started picking up random rocks. He threw each one at Penn, hoping that at least one would hit him on the head.

"Whoa, hey! Watch it! Gah!" He almost fell into the lava, but he managed to hold on to the walls as well. He looked down and saw the stone, just within reach. Grinning in triumphant, he picked it up.

"Don't throw that stone!" Rippen yelled.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Penn shouted back. "I'm not interested in taking over the world!"

Rippen smiled slyly. "Then maybe you're interested in this."

He held up a familiar looking rock. It was the curing rock. "Again, it does feel like déjà vu, doesn't it?" he sneered. "Let's make a trade. Give me that rock, and I'll give you this mysterious rock that seems to have some value to you!"

_She wouldn't want for risking the mission just for her. _"If there's one thing you haven't learned, it's learning from your past mistakes!" Penn replied. "I'm not going to risk all this for one stupid rock!"

Taking another pinch of dust, Penn started to fly with the stone. Ripped gnashed his teeth in anger. "Gah!" he screamed furiously.

Penn landed just behind him, another rock at his feet. He picked it up and threw it, saying, "Hey Rippen! Fetch!" The dinosaur caught it perfectly, but that caused him to lose his balance and fall in to the lava pit.

"I'll save you, Rippen!" Larry declared, jumping in after. Dino Rippen, Larry, and the curing stone disappeared within the molten mess.

Penn forced himself to look away.

"Penn!" Sashi called, as she and Boone ran up to him. "The volcano is about to collapse burst! We need to get out of here!"

"I got an idea!" It wasn't really much of an idea. Penn sprinkled dust on them again, and they started to float. They flew over the lava, and up out the crater of the volcano. The moment they saw the day of light, the lava also gushed out, and started flowing down the sides.

"What about Stoneville?" Boone asked, suddenly concerned.

"I think they'll be fine," Penn grinned.

The people of Stonesville knew what to do when they heard a volcano. They had with them a huge chunk of rock that served as a wall. It both blocked out the lava from destroying their city and started creating more of their magical rocks. Once the lava had cooled down, some people got to work and started molding more rocks for their stone gardens.

It was a crazy way to make rocks, but they accepted it. Penn, Boone, and Sashi looked at each other and grinned.

"Quadruple fist bump!" they said, bumping fists. However, they stopped when they realized they weren't really a quartet at the moment. They awkwardly lowered their hands, frowning slightly.

"Hey," Penn spoke up. "We did it."

"Wait 'til Verge hears all this," Boone added, smiling a bit.

Sashi nodded in agreement as she turned to Penn. "We're proud of you, PZ."

The boy only shrugged. "A hero must make sacrifices. Even if they were supposed to be for other people."

"Your parents would be proud." At that, Penn smiled.

They flew down at the Stone Garden, the mayor of Stonesville waiting for them. "Thanks to you heroes, our town and world are saved," he grinned, taking the rock from Penn. "I'll be sure to find a better, safer place for this rock."

"We sure hope you do," Penn said. "Wouldn't want the same thing to happen again now, huh?"

"Please. Is there anything you want in reward for this huge favor you've done for us?"

Penn's eyes widened slightly. He glanced over at his friends, who smiled and nodded eagerly.

The boy turned back to the mayor, smiling proudly. "Yes, uh, we would like one I-Can-Cure-Any-Sickness Rock to go."

"You heard him! Bring him the stone!"

A caveman grunted as he rolled one large stone over to Penn. It was golden polka-dotted, the exact rock he needed. "Thanks a lot!" he said gratefully.

"Anything for our saviors!"

Boone and Sashi helped Penn pick the rock up and they grinned at each other. There was a flash of blue, and the three friends were zapped back home.

* * *

Verge lay in her bed, sneezing once again. It was really no fun being sick. Especially on a workday. She sighed. _'I bet Zero and the others are having more fun than I am,'_. The fairy glanced over to her side.

There stood a picture of her and Penn. It was the first time the fairy had tried out her floating dust and it was on Penn. They were flying in the air, laughing and having a blast. Verge remembered Brock had taken that picture. Oh, how wonderful memories are…

Verge sat up in her bed. She really missed Brock and Vonnie. She made a promise to them that she would watch over their son, no matter what, not only as a favor to thank them from taking her in, but also because she cared about Penn more than anything. It was bad enough her adoptive parents were stuck in a dimension. If anything happened to Penn…she would never forgive herself.

Whatever life she must've lived before she met the Zeros was probably a horrible one, if they randomly decided to kick her out of the dimension. Her parents couldn't have been anything like the way Brock and Vonnie treated her. And yet, she still wanted to go back…

That was enough remembering. Verge suddenly coughed harshly. Where was Penn? He should've been back by now.

At those thoughts, the door swung open. Verge's pointy ears perked up at the sight of her best friend. She then frowned when she saw the item in his hands.

"Um…nice rock?"

"Verge!" Penn exclaimed, setting the rock down. "You'll never guess what happened today!"

"OK, you got me, what happened?"

"First, you gotta break the rock."

"Break the what now."

"Break the rock, come on!"

Verge was confused. What was Penn trying to do? She grew to human size and picked the stone up. "What is this?"

"It's magic!" Verge stared. "No, seriously, it can cure your cold!"

"Wow, nice story."

"Just break the stupid rock!"

Verge sniffed. She decided there's no use fighting. She put the rock back on the ground and held a hammer. She lifted it up and slammed it back down.

The rock broke in half. A golden mist escaped from it, enveloping around Verge and entering through her nostrils. Through it, she smelled her favorite nature smells, and immediately felt relaxed.

And at that moment, she felt much better.

"My cold is gone!" she exclaimed, touching her no-longer red nose.

"Told you!"

"I can fly again!" Verge lifted herself off the ground and started flying around the room happily.

"Hey, hey, careful! You might break something in here!"

Verge only laughed, landed back on the ground, and held Penn's hands. "Was the dust useful?"

"Very. Thanks, Verge. Even with you gone, you're always a big help."

"No. Thank _you_ so much, Zero."

He smiled. "I couldn't have you sick for another day, could I?"

Verge laughed. "No, I guess not. You'd be lost without me."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Verge giggled and kissed Penn's forehead in gratitude, just as they did as kids. Penn blushed but he still smiled cheekily.

"So," Verge said, shrinking to a small size. "What happened? Tell me everything."


	8. I'm Super!

**Episode 6: I'm Super!**

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**Someone made my day when they reviewed on this fic and said nice things about it :) Thank you, you really put a smile on my face! I also want to thank the first person that favorited and reviewed on this. I'm really glad you liked this story, which I see isn't one you would typically like ^^ **

**Hope everyone else continues to enjoy!**

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In your everyday ordinary bedroom, there was something quite _un-normal_ happening on a completely regular bed. Verge took a deep breath, clutching her makeshift spear. She opened her eyes and charged.

"Hyah!" She stabbed her spear into a pillow-like dummy.

She felt something come up to her, and slammed another floating pillow down into the ground. "Hah!"

More pillows surrounded her, and she struck her spear down on the bed, kicking all the pillows away and landing back on the ground perfectly.

But it wasn't over yet. There were still other floating pillows. She stabbed, kicked, and poked holes through them. _"Hyah!" _

She drove a hole through the last pillow, spear pointed out towards the door. She froze in place when her roommate Penn, who had just returned from school, stared at her and what she was doing.

"Umm…I can explain."

"Is it me or are you pulling a Sashi?" Penn asked, setting his bag down and walking over to her. "What's this? Torn up pillows? What's that all about?"

Verge bashfully transformed to human size and dropped her spear. "I was just, uh, you know…practicing for the next mission?"

"And you were going all pillow-killing crazy for that reason because…"

Verge laughed nervously. "Ah, well…" She sighed. "For the past few days, I've been feeling a little weak in missions. I feel like I haven't really been much help at all. I thought, maybe, I could toughen myself up a bit." She huffed and crossed her arms. "It was supposed to be a secret too."

"Hey," Penn put an arm over her shoulders. "Verge, I like knowing you care about the team! But you gotta take it simple. Just be yourself!"

"Easy for you to say," Verge sighed, flying back in front of him. "You're the hero. Everything you do is right."

"That's not true, and you know it! Look, the point is, we all like you just the way you are. There's no reason to change. "

"I'm not changing, I was just training!"

"Oh, well then why didn't you say so?"

"…I don't tell you everything."

"Yeah, figured. Come on, let's get going, the team's waiting."

Verge rolled her eyes playfully. She shrunk back to a small size, sprinkled Penn with dust, and they flew over to the Odyssey.

"I wonder where we're going today," Verge wondered.

"Dunno," Penn admitted.

"There's Phyllis right now." Verge pointed through the window.

"Steady…steady…" The mechanic was dangling on her stomach, trying to fix the MUHU by inserting something into it. She looked like she was in deep focus.

"Phyllis!" Penn called, opening the door. The mechanic got surprised and almost dropped her part. She looked down at the two, annoyed. "Uh, just wonderin' where we're zapping today. Hopefully somewhere less can-carne than last week's Man-Eating Burrito World." Penn gestured to the pictures by the drawer and both he and Verge shuddered at the memory.

"Eh, today is not very special," Phyllis said, fixing the MUT and lowering herself. "It's just world of superheroes."

"Oh, wings," Verge said, waiting for Penn's reaction. He seemed to be staring at Phyllis like she was a god.

He finally snapped out of it. "I'm sorry, did you j—did you just—did you just say _superheroes?_ _Ohhhhh_ you don't know how long I've been waiting for this!"

"Well, obviously, since forever," Verge laughed lightly. "You wouldn't shut up about it! Ever since we met, you always blabbed about it."

"Exactly!" He laughed and shook his friend back and forth. "Super…heroes!" he squealed, continuing to shake her.

"OK, calm down, Zero! Let's get to the mission so you can fulfill your dream."

"You're right! Good idea!"

They joined Boone and Sashi, who were waiting for them as they stepped onto the platform. "What would you guys rather have? Super strength or super speed?" Penn asked.

"Both are awesome," Verge agreed, flying over them.

"Death vision," Sashi replied.

Penn blinked. "Uh, that wasn't one of—"

"_Death vision." _Penn and Verge exchanged a glance as she walked to her position.

Phyllis pressed a button and they zapped in the dimension.

* * *

When Penn opened his eyes, he was grinning like he'd never grinned before. "Guys…I am a superhero! I'm superheroing right now!"

He started taking off to the sky. "I'm off the ground, I'm flying around! Hey, Verge, no dust! Yeah-ha!" He laughed and gazed at his cloud model. "Cloud poo!" He flew back to the city and landed on a building. "Whee-hee-hee! Look at me go!"

He sighed happily. "I've dreamed of this, ever since I was six years old! I-I a-am a s-superhero…I know superheroes don't cry, but _danggit!"_

He flew back to the park to test out his powers. "Super strength, flight _and _laser vision? Could this get any better?!"

He suddenly bumped into a tree. He fell to the ground, and it fell on it…followed by the rocks he destroyed.

"Yes it can!" He came back out, alive. "Invulnerability!" He laughed as he hit his head with the rocks. "Verge, are you _seeing this?_ Verge?"

"You could get hurt, Zero," the human-sized fairy sighed, flying over to he friend. "Just be careful."

"I can't get hurt if I have _invulnerability!" _Penn then had a closer look at her outfit.

Verge was wearing a white and gold tube top, golden miniskirt, belt, wristlets, gold and white boots, and a yellow eye mask. Across her chest was her logo, which was a pair of two golden wings with a yellow background. She still had her golden wings, but she lost the pigtails and her brown hair was worn down. "New look in a new world?" Penn asked, smiling at her form.

"Guess so," Verge said, also staring at herself. She placed her fists on her hips and flew upwards. "I am Golden Wing, protector of animals, children, and the magic of friendship!"

"Sounds awesome! What are your powers?"

That's when Verge's golden wings drooped, and she dropped to the ground. "Yeah, that's the thing…I still have my normal powers. I still have my old nature magic and fairy dust. I've got invulnerability, but that's pretty much it. As usual, practically nothing changed about me in this world."

Penn smiled a bit and put and arm over her pale shoulders. "Aw, it's all right, Vergie. Hey, I know what might cheer you up!"

"What's that?"

"Rock fight!" Penn quickly picked up one of the stones and threw it over her head. Instead of scolding him, childish Verge acted up and she went hit him with a rock as well. They started hitting each other with more rocks as if they were snowballs, acting like they were kids.

Boone was inspecting his own form in another area. "A giant brain _and_ a dress?" He gasped._ 'I must be a super smart lady!'_

Penn and Verge exchanged a glance in confusion. _'How did you say that without moving your mouth?'_

'_How did you say _that_ without moving_ your _mouth?'_

The two gasped. "You're reading my mind!" Penn exclaimed. "Do you know what that means?!"

"No! But be quiet so I can read your mind and find out!" Boone touched his big brain. "Huh! I still have no idea!"

"Look on the bright side," Verge piped in. "At least people know you're a _Wiseman." _

"Awesomeness." Boone and Verge high-fived.

Suddenly, the three heard something coming from the trashcan. They also smelled something. Sashi came out of the trashcan, the horrible smell trailing after her. "OK, let's crunch some skulls!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah," Penn said, the three walking over to her while fanning the smell away. "Before the skull-crunching, can we just acknowledge that you look like a skunk?"

Sashi only smiled. "I am Skunk Woman. I possess the abilities and instincts of nature's most formidable omnivore!"

Penn, Verge, and Boone only held their noses as they stared at her blankly.

Sashi deadpanned. "OK, it's not my first choice. But it doesn't matter. Because a hero's true power is the power that lies within."

Verge's eyes widened a bit at that, a little intrigued by her words, but Penn and Boone weren't seeing through the emotional stuff. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Penn chuckled.

"She is," Boone said, reading Sashi's mind.

The girl growled, ready to pounce, but Verge stopped her. "Hey, it's all right, Sash. You're so right. I think your powers will be important in this mission." Sashi grinned gratefully.

"All righty!" Penn interrupted, flying upside down with Verge flying on top. "Sash, check the Specs."

"OK, today, we have to stop a super villain who has a secret weapon he's going to use to destroy Megasupertropolis."

"Hmm…" Verge mused, examining the city. "I have a bad feeling about this mission…"

"What are you talking about, Verge? To that I say…invulnerability!" Penn started flying around and showing off again. "Also, flight, laser vision, these babies, those mamas, these little guys back here, underwear outside my pants, and…a—puppy! In trouble!"

Penn suddenly looked to the streets to find a brown puppy crossing one. "Oh no!" Verge shouted out. She was the protector of animals. She had to save them all.

She started to fly towards it, but Penn stopped her. "Allow me, Golden Wing! This is clearly a job for…" He then looked down at his logo and hesitated. "Oh, what is that, an eight? A Mr. 8 Ball…?"

Boone stared at it. "I don't think it's a number. It's like either a dollar sign, or two awesome snakes just hugging."

Verge and Sashi exchanged blank looks. "Does it matter?" the fairy questioned.

Penn shrugged. "Yeah, well, never fear, lonesome hound!"

He flew over the save the pup, but it was too late. The little animal got run over by a truck. Penn and Verge gasped.

"What did you do?!" Verge shouted, hitting Penn on the head repeatedly. "You killed it! You should've let _me_ do my job!"

"Ow, ow! How is it I'm not invulnerable to your hits!"

Before Verge could aim for his chest, they felt the truck move. Their eyes widened when it exploded and they saw the puppy fly right out of it, now with a cape fluttering behind him. He glanced at the two and raised his eyebrows, smirking.

"It's alive!" Verge cheered, fluttering over to it.

"They got a dog superhero?" Boone asked, intrigued.

"Just 'cause he ripped a truck in half, can fly, and has a great wink doesn't make him a superhero!" Penn defended.

Verge was scratching the puppy behind the ears. It yipped and started to pee in happiness. The liquid also acted as a laser, and it started to form the puppy's logo in the wall. It raised its eyebrows at Penn again.

"OK, well, now you're just showing off!" Penn shouted.

"He's not the only one," Sashi said, pointing.

There were more. Superheroes everywhere. The entire city was full of them. And each one had their own unique super power.

"Super city, huh guys?" Verge said.

Penn nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess…"

They then came across a citizen reading a newspaper while he was walking. "Ah, e-excuse me, sir!" Penn piped up.

The man looked up from his reading. "Please, 'sir' is my super father's name. I am _~Captain Super Captain!~" _He struck a pose as he sang his name.

The four heroes blinked. "Sorry, uh," Penn said. "Captain Super Captain—"

"_~Captain Super Captain!~"_

"I'm not gonna say it like that… What's the deal? There's like superheroes everywhere."

"Of course. Everyone in Megasupertropolis has amazing super powers!"

"Oh, you mean like flight, super strength, and _laser vision?!"_

Penn overdid it with the lasers and accidentally hit the Daily Prism's giant Prism. It spread out through the city, and one laser hit a retirement home, the other a zoo wall…and another was heading straight for them.

"I got this!" Verge said, preparing her protection magic.

But apparently, the Captain was faster. He used his own force field powers and protected the heroes before the fairy could. "Did somebody order a force field with a side of saving the day and two scoops of being awesome?" he said. "Thank goodness for _~Captain Super Captain!~"_

Feeling overpowered, Verge lowered her hands and flew back to the ground. Penn rubbed the back of his neck and patted Verge's shoulder. "You could've done it."

"You could've not done it."

Penn sighed. "Let's just get back to the mission. Megasupertropolis needs us."

"No we don't!" The team turned to find an angry mob of superheroes, glaring at the young team as they searched for the source of the many laser destructions. The four glanced at each other nervously.

Suddenly, there was a rumble in the ground. Everyone gasped and turned to find a giant robot coming out of the streets. And in the robot was Rippen himself. "Behold!" he proclaimed. "The instrument of your demise!" The four heroes prepared to battle.

Rippen only laughed as he picked up two cars and smashed them together. "Prepare for your doom, heroes!"

"This is a job for (insert super hero names here)!" the citizens shouted as they advanced on the giant robot.

The Speedster first took off, attempting to fight. But a little blue animal suddenly came out of the robot's stomach and took hold of her.

"Hugs!" it squealed. "Everyone loves hugs, am I right?" There was a light blue aura around them and he let go.

But when the Speedster started to run again, she wasn't as superfast anymore. "What happened to my super speed?" she gasped.

"I think you mean, _my _super speed?" Rippen sneered. "That's right! By merely touching you, Larry has the ability to steal your power and give it to me." Larry then stole the ability of one of the construction workers and Rippen began to fly.

"I am a human parasite!" Larry said. "You can call me Larasite! Or you can call me Larry. I mean, it's up to you."

"And to that I say…" Verge started. "…_everyone hide!"_

The heroes scattered throughout the city. But apparently it wasn't enough. Larry found everyone, and that started with Boone behind a lamppost. He touched his brain and stole his mind-reading powers. "Thank you!"

Sashi tried running, but Larry caught her skunk ponytail. Touch. "Ooh!"

"Time to take this tin can out for recycling!" the Captain exclaimed, using his force fields jumping onto Rippen. _"~Captain Super C—"_

"Peekaboo!" Touch. Larry pushed the Captain off Rippen.

The Giant Old Lady grew to her giant size. "Why walk when you can take the bus?!" Touch. "Ah, I'm shrinking over here!"

Penn and Verge quickly flew over. Verge picked the lady up while Penn took the bus. Rippen laughed at them. "The power of one old lady!" he exclaimed, growing.

Verge went to bring the old lady to a safer place and check on the other heroes. Penn threw the bus away and advanced on Rippen. "You better hope that metal suit has an airbag!"

Rippen laughed as they took to the sky. "You think you can defeat me? With only the power of—" He then noticed the logo. "What is that? An eight? A stack of two donuts?"

Penn frowned. "You know, I dunno. Could be a snowman, I guess."

"Huh, well, it does have a snowman vibe. Maybe it's two awesome cookies. Hugging."

Penn rolled his eyes and used his laser vision. "Hey!" Rippen said, dodging. "My turn!"

He gathered his own lasers together and blasted Penn into the building. Before Penn could get up, Larry hugged him down. Rippen smirked. "Thanks for your laser vision, the super strength, and the great wink." He winked.

"I had a great wink?!" Penn gasped.

Rippen tried attacking again, but Penn dropped away. He was about to hide when he heard a, "Hey!"

Penn turned and gasped. Verge was behind Rippen. He turned and grinned evilly. "Looks like I missed one. Larry!"

The fairy didn't move. "Verge!" Penn yelled, but Larry already hugged her.

"Finally I get the nature magic of Penn Zero's fairy!"

But unlike the other heroes, there was no blue aura. Larry pulled away, confused. He got nothing from the fairy. "What's wrong with this thing?" Rippen gritted his teeth in anger.

Verge smiled proudly. "Guess again, metal mind! My 'powers' are pure magic! Your little suit can't get them! Which means _I _can strike you where it hurts!"

Before Rippen could say anything, Verge conjured up some of her vines and blasted them at him. The villain flew backwards and slammed into another building. Penn could only stare. Verge flew back down on the ground and picked Penn up, bringing him to the alleyway where all the other heroes were.

"Thank you, Verge," Penn said lightly. "It's a good thing you kept your powers." Verge smiled a little.

"Not powers. Magic."

Penn gave a light nod. "Told you you just had to be yourself."

Before Verge could respond, they heard the complaints of the other heroes.

"Hey, I got no powers!" the construction builder gasped

"What am I gonna do without my super speed?" the Speedster questioned.

"I've never tasted fear before," the Captain said, smacking his lips. "It's gross."

"Come on!" Penn protested. "You guys can't give up!"

"We got no choice," the construction worker said. "Without powers, I'm just a highly skilled construction worker."

"I'm just an incredibly handsome ripped electrician!" the Captain said.

"Without my speed, I'm just a Math teacher," the Speedster sighed.

"I sell lamps," the old lady sighed.

"I'm a janitor," one hero said.

"I repair spatulas," Everyone stared at him. "Hey. It's a living."

"Guys, we can still do this!" Penn said. "A hero once told me something."

"If you wear your underpants on the outside, make sure they're clean," the Captain said.

Penn blinked. "Put a pin on that." He gestured to Sashi. "She told me powers aren't what make a hero super. A hero's true power is what's inside them. That's our real power. And that's something that a weird, slimy, half-mutant tentacle man thing can never take from us!"

"So what are you saying?" the old lady asked.

"What I'm saying, miss, is take me to your lamp store, 'cause we're gonna need lamps. A whole lot of lamps."

Penn explained his plan. Everyone agreed on it. Using her fairy dust, Verge helped everyone fly over to their stores. They did their set-ups and prepared to attack Rippen. Verge, who was on a building, looked downward to see Rippen, unfortunately still stealing powers.

"Today, Megasupertropolis. Tomorrow, the world!"

Verge frowned and flew back down to Penn. "Everything all set?" he asked.

The fairy saluted him. "All clear and ready for action."

Penn grinned. "Great." He held his fist out. Verge quickly shrunk and they did a tiny fist bump.

As Verge left, Penn went and threw a metal box at Rippen's head. He definitely caught his attention.

"Hey, rust bucket! We're tired of heavy metal! It's time for some old school!"

Rippen heard a whistle. He looked up to see the old lady, in a construction vehicle, surrounded by her lamps. And she was heading right for Rippen's head. "Hey, bad guy! Why don't you lighten up?!" She flicked a switch.

All the lights turned on. "No!" Rippen shouted, now blinded.

"Clean up on Aisle Whup-Your-Butt!" the janitor shouted. All the garbage bins they hung up at the top of the buldings were released and each hit Rippen straight in the face.

He lost his balance, and Verge was able to use ice to make him slip. That made Captain Super Captain appear and take out some of the wires in his suit.

"_~Captain Regular Captain!~" _he shouted. Rippen's suit was now completely useless and he fell to the ground.

The Speedster used math to set up a little slingshot for Sashi. All she needed now was a weapon.

"Here you go! A spatula."

Launching herself with the giant spatula, Sashi flung herself at Rippen, using the spatula to cut Larry's connector from Rippen, causing him to destroy the power bank. All of the superheroes' powers were returned to their rightful owners.

"No!"

"Hey, I feel super again, ah!"

"Whoo! Yeah!"

"(Insert super hero names here)!"

"All right!" the quartet team cheered.

"_No!" _Rippen screamed, getting out of his suit. "I refuse to lose against you powerless heroes!"

The Super Dog barked, attempting to bite Rippen. But the villain only swatted it away. The puppy yelped as it fell to the ground.

Everyone gasped. Including Verge. But she was more shocked than angry now. That "other side" of hers started to snap again. She dropped to the ground, having a full deathly glare on her face. She lowered her wings and walked towards Rippen. He only glared back, thinking that some fairy couldn't possibly be a threat to him.

"_How dare you hurt an animal?!" _Verge clenched her fist and punched Rippen. In the face. Hard.

He flew backwards again and his back hit his suit. "No no wait!"

The fairy punched again. And punched. And kicked. And kicked some more. "How would you feel if you had a life lower than others?!"

"Verge, Verge!" Penn quickly flew over to stop his friend from hurting Rippen any more. His face was already bruised up as it was. "It's OK. The pup is fine." Then he grinned. "Just be yourself, huh?"

Verge breathed heavily and laughed. "A hero's power is the power that lies within." Penn patted her shoulder proudly.

"So, anyone want to jump up and down on Rippen's suit?"

"Heck yeah!"

The police came and went to take Rippen and Larry away soon after.

"You all right there, Rip?"

"Yeah…the fairy sure can punch… To be honest, Larry, it feels better not to have you in my belly."

"Really? I was starting to feel at home in there. It's kinda cozy."

At the top of the Daily Prism building, the quartet team gazed as their enemies got taken to jail. They grinned at each other. Boone ate a hotdog happily.

"You know, Sash, you were right," Penn said, Verge flying over him as she waved at the flying jail car. "You don't need super powers to be a hero."

He tried leaning on something but ended up with air. He almost fell off, causing his friends to worry. Verge tried flying after him, but Penn had already saved himself. "But it doesn't hurt." He winked.

Verge and Sashi exchanged a look and they rolled their eyes. Verge flew upward as Sashi flicked her skunk ponytail at Penn. The terrible odor filled his nostrils.

Penn coughed. "Oh, that's horrible!" He then sneezed, causing his laser vision to act.

It hit the prism, causing more lasers, and spread out through the city. "Um…" They started hitting buildings, causing some of them to fall, practically destroying Megasupertropolis. Again. Boone and Sashi looked at Penn, who smiled awkwardly.

"I like this town," Verge smiled innocently.


	9. The Fast and the Floor Rugs

**Episode 7: The Fast and the Floor Rugs**

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**I suddenly realized that a lot of people actually ship Pennashi. I admit I'm not a HUGE huge fan of it, but I do admit it's cute. I realized this after watching a few episodes, most especially this one. uwu**

* * *

"OK, people, let's have a good zap today!" Penn told his friends as they stepped onto the MUT platform. "Sashi, if we get vampires again, we just go stake to the heart, remember, OK? We don't burn 'em, 'cause that smelled _really _bad last time. Verge, next time you see animals with two heads or more, tell us first before you pet them! Otherwise, we all get stuck in their stomachs. And Boone, just really try to focus on your job as Wiseman today, OK?"

But Boone was distracted and started talking about something else. "You know what's the best part about having braces? You eat lunch, right? And then later, the leftovers are already like, like right in your mouth!"

"Boone," Verge piped up. "That's both useful and gross."

"Yeah, I feel like we're not communicating," Penn said.

Phyllis went and boredly zapped them in their dimension.

* * *

Penn opened his eyes to find himself sitting on a carpet. "What? A completely regular carpet? I can't work with this. I need a—" He cut himself off when the carpet started to float. "Oh! It's a magic carpet! Whoo! Magic!"

"Penn? Penn?" a voice called out. Penn looked down at his belt and saw a lamp. He held it up, and Boone came out of it. He shrieked. "Oh, I don't have any legs!"

Penn's eyes lit up. "Boone! You're a genie!"

"I'm a genie?" Boone gasped. "I'm a _genie!_" Boone turned his fists into lions. "Genie power!" He shouted out as he turned his head into a balloon.

Penn pulled his head back on. "This is awesome! Verge, you gotta see this!"

"Up here…" The boys looked up and they saw Verge. She was wearing a red and blue Arabian Princess' outfit, complete with a tank top, baggy pants, and golden pointy shoes. Her hair was worn down and it was held back by a golden circlet.

"Nice form, Vergie," Boone teased.

"I feel exposed," she groaned.

"Well, it's just the proper wear for this kind of heat," Penn explained, blushing a bit. "Just ignore it."

"Well, it _is_ kind of hot…bbut your form, though. What's with the ponytail? Are you a girl?" Penn raised an eyebrow. "…Kidding. Just kidding. Still, we have Genie Boone."

"Nice ring to it, if I do say so myself!" Boone said proudly.

"This is the coolest world ever!" Penn exclaimed. "Sashi, am I right or am I right?"

They then looked up at a tree to find Sashi hanging upside down by her tail, in the form of a monkey. "Adorable!" Verge cooed. Penn and Boone smiled.

Sashi joined them on the carpet. "One more word, I break your faces!"

"You heard her, guys. No monkey business." Penn and Boone chuckled. Sashi glared. Verge transformed into a human size and handed her a banana. Sashi instinctively licked her lips, peeled the banana, and took a bite.

"Still wonder where you get all the animal treats," Penn told Verge.

"Like I said. I don't tell you everything."

"One day. Sash, check the Specs."

Sashi swallowed. "OK, today's mission—"

"You know," Boone interrupted. "Monkey Business would be a sweet name for a business that rents monkeys!"

"…Anyway, today's mission, protect the lamp from bandits who wanna destroy the Sultan's palace."

"Well, as long as the bandits don't figure out where we are, this is gonna be the easiest mission ever—"

"Rent five monkeys, the sixth one's free!" Boone suddenly started making a floating blimp that looked like a monkey's head with words in its teeth and fireworks, totally giving their location. "Monkey, Monkey, Monkey Business! Yeah!"

"Boone!" Penn cried out. He then gasped when he saw the bandits heading right for them.

"We're dead," Verge said.

"Thanks to your garish yet effective business promotion," Ripped started, grinning evilly. "You've given away your position. Now the lamp is mine, and evil will finally—"

He was interrupted by Larry vacuuming his carpet. "Ugh, lots of sand on this thing."

"_Oh, just get the lamp!"_

"Go, go, go!" Verge shouted, starting their carpet. They took off, leaving the bandits.

But that didn't stop them from chasing after them. "Thanks a bunch, Boone!" Penn shouted.

"Don't worry!" Boone promised. "I'll make it up to you! _Ala-gelato!_"

As soon as he said that, three ice cream cones appeared, including one in the extra arm he made. "Mm, brown-flavored! Try pink!"

"Boone!" Verge cried. "No time for ice cream!"

One carpet rider attempted to get to them but Sashi kicked him away. Another went for Verge, but she conjured up some wind, tossing the sand in his face. He yelled, scratching at his eyes, and crashed down.

Meanwhile, Boone was thinking of ways to find himself un-useful. _"Alaca-booya!" _An accordion appeared around his throat.

"Boone!" Penn shouted again, and the instrument disappeared.

Boone frowned but smiled again. _"Alaca-deserthorse!"_

A camel suddenly appeared on Penn's lap. "Ah! Ooh, I can't see!"

"Camel!" Verge cheered, rubbing its head. It neighed in satisfaction.

But it wasn't that much fun. The carpet flew off a cliff. Everyone screamed, including the camel.

"At least the bandits stopped chasing us!" Verge shouted.

"Boone! Help! Seriously!" Penn shrieked.

"_Alaca-ding!" _He gave the camel a parachute.

"_Alaca-dong!" _He gave everyone life jackets. Penn only screamed louder.

"_Alaca-ping!" _A keytar appeared and Boone started to play it.

"_Alaca-pong!" _A Christmas tree appeared mid-air.

"Zero!" Verge shouted happily, pointing at a brake in the carpet. Penn grinned and pulled at it. "Wait, why do carpets have breaks…"

Sashi flew over Penn's head as they screamed. The carpet immediately skidded to a halt and they landed fine. Boone created an anchor and threw it off the carpet. "Mission accomplished!"

Verge took Sashi off Penn's head as he glared at the genie. "No, mission not accomplished!" he shouted. "Explain how a giant rusty anchor in the middle of the desert is helping!"

"OK, well, aside from that, name one thing I didn't do right!" The camel with the parachute, the ice cream cones, the Christmas tree, and the keytar all fell before them. The Monkey Business advertisements flew before them. Verge opened her mouth to try lightening up the mood a bit, but Penn beat her to it.

"OK, you know what, Boone? Maybe you should just go back in your lamp so we can save this world on our own! And it wouldn't be the first time."

Boone suddenly got a sad look on his face. Verge, surprised, suddenly stopped flying and dropped on the carpet. Penn suddenly realized his mistake.

"Wait, I…I didn't mean it like that."

"Your insulting wish is my command." Boone turned to mist.

"Boone—" Penn started. But he'd already gone back into his lamp. "Boone!"

"Leave me alone!" he shouted, hopping away. Penn frowned. Verge put a hand on his shoulder.

They were interrupted by Rippen's snickering and looked up to see him flying above them. "Troubling bromance, lad?" He then proceeded to follow the hopping lamp.

"Follow them!" Verge cried, as they all got on the carpet and took off.

Boone apparently was fast at hopping away. They passed through a magic carpet railroad track, where Rippen and his bandits had to stop and wait for it to pass. They didn't think of flying over it like Penn did. Rippen growled.

"Boone sure can jump for a genie in a lamp," Verge commented.

"Just get him!" Sashi cried out.

The three continued following the lamp. "Boone!" Penn shouted. But that only caused him to make one big jump, denting his lamp hole and flying upwards. Penn tried reaching for it, but Boone's anchor weighed him down, causing their carpet to unravel.

Verge yelped and flew off the carpet. Penn and Sashi screamed as they fell to the ground. Luckily, the carpet also had airbags. Verge flew over to them, smiling sheepishly.

"Ah…sorry."

"Not your fault," Penn mumbled. Verge could tell he was depressed, and frowned. She put the anchor in the carpet's small case and started to look around.

She saw a place to get some water and her eyes lit up. "Come on, guys." Turning back to small fairy size and using her dust, she spun around her friends, dusting them. Once they were flying, she directed them to the place she saw. She landed them in a little cave so they could get some shade and rest.

"All better?" Verge asked.

Penn was still upset about Boone but he tried for a smile. "Thanks, Verge. We could use some water."

"No problem." Using her water powers, she conjured some up from the nearby waterfall and splashed it on them. Sashi shook the droplets of her and looked at Verge. She laughed lightly.

Usually, Penn would laugh about these things she did, but he was way too sad now. Verge frowned as she sat on his left shoulder. He smiled a bit at her. But he frowned.

"This is all my fault," he said.

"No, it's not," Sashi said.

"I know. It's Boone's. Totally Boone's." He sat beside Sashi. "I just thought I'd sound like a jerk if I said it out loud, but since you agree with me, it's totally OK to talk about it behind his back!" Both Sashi and Verge then glared at him. Penn glanced at them nervously, finishing his sentence. "Which…is what I would say if he wasn't my friend which he is, and that was a test, and you guys just passed. So congrats on passing, you two." Penn looked away from both of them and sighed. Sashi and Verge exchanged a glance.

"Look," the monkey said, hopping onto Penn's shoulders with Verge. "You want the truth, PZ? Your problem with Boone isn't that he does things wrong, it's that he doesn't do things the way you would do. But he's not supposed to. Boone is Boone! That's who he is."

But Penn was still frowning at her words. Verge touched his cheek lightly. Then he heard something. "Hey, Sash? Are you eating bugs out of my hair?"

"Yes. I am. Because I am me. And today, that's a monkey." The bug she was eating suddenly escaped. "Get back in my mouth!"

As Sashi went to chase the bug, it was Verge's turn. "Zero, I know sometimes Boone can get out of hand," she started. "And sometimes, he's different, and does things very unhelpful."

"Where are you going with this?"

"It's just because, like Sashi said, you gotta accept who Boone is. That's why he's our friend. You gotta let him be himself. Every one of us is different, which makes us unique, and the best of friends. You're my best friend because I like you for who you are. You're not a fairy like me, but I still accepted you. And you accepted me, didn't you?" She smiled. "Look what happened six years later."

Penn had to grin at that. Verge held her fist out and Penn bumped it with his finger. He stared off at the Sultan's palace and got a determined look.

"OK. Let's do this. Verge, think you can fly us over there?"

"Nope."

"Great—Wait, what? What happened to your dust?!"

"Can't use it. When a fairy that has ice powers gets too hot, her wings stop working and she can't fly, much less use her fairy dust. Water won't work, either. It'll get my wings wet."

Penn sighed. "Guess we have to use the carpet then."

"But I thought it's not working?"

"Oh, it is. We just have to find a way to start it. I've got a plan!"

"What is it?" Sashi asked, walking up to them.

The three moved the half-carpet over to a nearby cliff, where Penn's plan was apparently attempting to push it off it. "Huh, I'm gonna be honest," Penn said. "This is my first time trying to push-start a magic carpet."

"To be more precise," Verge piped up. "A half-carpet."

"Uh, yeah… You sure this will work?"

"Nope," Sashi said. But then she smiled. "But it's your idea. And you're you, and we trust you. Right, Verge?"

The fairy winked as she sat on Penn's shoulder. "You bet." Penn grinned at both of them.

"Now, let's do this!"

Penn prepared to push her. "Ready…set…go—OH NO!" Penn pushed her, all right. Without the carpet. Sashi screamed as she fell and so did Penn and Verge.

"Get her, get her!" Verge yelled as Penn jumped on the carpet, trying to start it.

She looked down the carpet to see Sashi still falling. "Horrible time to not be able to fly!"

As soon as she said that, Penn gave his hardest pull at the carpet, and they managed to save Sashi in time. "Yeah!" the three cheered as they flew upwards.

"We did it!" Verge shouted out. "Let's go get Boone!"

Penn and Sashi nodded in agreement as they zoomed through the desert. "Verge, you still got your fairy-stincts?" Sashi asked.

The fairy closed her eyes and wiggled her pointy ears. "Yep! I think I hear Boone's voice! And Larry's. Wow, these guys are annoying."

"Show us, Verge!" Penn cried out. The fairy pointed in the right direction, and before they knew it, they were flying above Rippen.

His minions were laughing at the carpet they were on. "That's small!" they said.

Penn and Verge looked at each other and grinned. Penn pressed a button on the carpet and turned upside down. The anchor Verge put there earlier was released and it fell onto the ground. The ground broke, causing three of the bandits to fall off the mountain they were on and into the sand.

Rippen also fell, and Larry ended up flying away. Just to make sure, Verge used every last ounce of magic she left and created a giant tornado, sending Larry off and covering Rippen with sand. "I still have the baby nickels!" he screamed out.

Boone's lamp was also falling into the ground, but Sashi immediately caught him. Verge and Penn landed the carpet by them. Sashi took Verge off Penn's shoulder while he talked to Boone.

"Boone, look," Penn started. "I shouldn't have wished you away." The genie only turned away from him, sad. Sashi and Verge nodded at Penn to continue.

"Not only did you make an anchor, but you're also the anchor of this team!" Verge and Sashi smiled. "You kunow, yo're dense, and you weigh us down…but you also hold us steady!" Boone turned back to Penn and they smiled at each other.

"I love bromances," Verge sighed. Sashi chuckled at her. The fairy then looked to the side and her eyes widened. "But I don't like that."

Rippen had emerged from her sand pile and had taken the lamp. He was looking angry. "Enough!" he said. "I still have one wish! Destroy the palace!"

Penn and Boone stared, but Boone sighed in relief. "That is a great last wish! I totally thought he'd use last his wish to off you."

Rippen gasped. "Wait. Finally. A good idea. _Annihilate Penn Zero_!"

"Boone, are you kidding me right now?!" Penn exclaimed.

"Do it!" Rippen commanded.

"N-No, technically," Boone started. "You didn't say 'I wish', so if you want me to make him expire—"

"_I wish _you would make Penn Zero expire!"

Boone dropped his head sadly and pointed at Penn. "Your wish is my command."

"No!" Verge yelled, attempting to fly off Sashi's hand, but only ended up falling again. Sashi picked her up again as she stared in horror.

Penn gasped, thinking it was the end, but then he saw Boone wink. Penn closed his eyes. "Boone is Boone, let him be himself, Boone is Boone, let him be himself…!"

_Poof_.

Penn opened his eyes and grinned at himself. He'd turned into a milk carton. Verge actually laughed and she and Sashi walked over to him.

"Milk?!" Ripped roared. "I said annihilate him!"

"No," Boone corrected. "You said, _make him expire!_ Check the date. He's totally rancid."

"OK…I wish you would annihilate Penn Zero!"

"Yeah, sorry dude, out of wishes."

By now, Rippen was fuming mad. While he was raging, Sashi and Verge poured Penn over Rippen. "Mission accomplished!" he cheered.

The bad milk messed with the carpet's mechanics, causing it to malfunction. The carpet got out of control and it flew off, taking Rippen with it. _"Whoa!"_

"_Yes!" _Verge cheered, jumping up and down. That's when Boone noticed her condition.

"Hey, Vergie, what's up with your wings? They're all soggy. Come on, rub the lamp." Verge smirked and turned to the others. Penn nodded, gesturing with his eyes he couldn't even do it. Sashi just smiled. So Verge rubbed the lamp.

"What are your commands, mistress?" Boone said, all serious business-like, bowing down and smirking.

Verge rolled her eyes. "Don't be like that, Wiseman. I wish I could fly again!" Boone smiled as he snapped his fingers. _Poof_. Verge's wings strengthened and she was up in the air once more.

"All right!" she cried out, high-fiving Boone. "Finally!"

"That's great and all, Verge, but do you mind using one of your wishes on me?" Penn called out.

Verge laughed. "I dunno, I kinda like you this way."

"Divergent."

"Hey, chill!" Verge chuckled. "I wish Penn was back to normal." _Poof_.

"Being milk actually reeked," Penn sighed, stretching.

"One last wish, Vergie," Boone said. "Use it wisely."

The fairy hesitated. What did she really want in the world? She wanted to go back to her old dimension. She wanted to know where she really belonged. But now she looked at her friends and she thought of everything she knew for the past six years. She smiled as she set the lamp down.

"I don't need anything," she said, growing the human size and gathering her friends in a group hug. "I have everything I could ever want right here."

Her friends smiled as they hugged back.

"Are you sure?" Boone asked. "'Cause like, you only get three wishes in like, one in a lifetime-

"Boone. Don't. Ruin this."

"Right, right, sorry!"

"Now, let's go return that lamp!" Using a big ball of fairy dust, she sprinkled it over everyone again. They floated in the air, and they all headed for the Sultan's castle.

The guards let them in as soon as they recognized the genie. As they guided them to meet the Sultan, Penn decided it was time to talk to Boone.

"So, uh," he started. "How'd you know that would work?"

"Oh, I didn't." Penn and Verge exchanged a glance, frowning. "I just thought…what would Penn do?" He smiled. Penn smiled back.

"Such a wonderful bromance," Verge sighed. The quartet hugged again.

"But, yeah, no, that totally could've gone south—" He made a cut off noise and a gesture at his throat.

"Don't ruin the moment, Boone." Verge warned. The genie chuckled. They tried not to think about it too much as they faced the Sultan.

"Sultan," Penn said. "I present to you…the lamp."

The Sultan smiled. "Lamp, schmamp. I'm gonna rent me some monkeys!" He pointed out the window to find Boone's Monkey Business Advertisement. Penn, Verge, and Sashi stared.

Boone placed his arms over his friends' shoulders. "Well, guys, looks like we're in business!"


	10. Brainzburgerz

**Episode 8: Brainzburgerz**

* * *

**I feel like there's something wrong with the chapter but I don't really know... e-e Anyway, enjoy :P**

* * *

Penn was tired. The week has been severely rough for him. He yawned as he and his friends shared an umbrella on their way to the Odyssey. Since Verge couldn't get her wings wet, she stayed hidden in Penn's hair. Which means she noticed everything that happened to him.

"Bag check for Zero's eyes!" she called out jokingly. But Penn only yawned again. "What, nothing?"

"Sorry, Verge, but all the missions in the past week have been really tough. I'm surprised you guys aren't a wreck."

"Well, maybe it's 'cause you were working the most in those times," Boone pointed out.

"Gee, Boone, thanks. I totally feel like you guys have my back."

"I'm sure today's mission won't be that hard," Sashi said.

"Highly doubt it," Verge piped up. "Have you _seen _the things he's been experiencing in the past few days?"

Boone and Sashi only shrugged.

They finally arrived at the Odyssey and Penn walked in rather drowsily. "Hey, uh, Phyllis?" he said to her. "I was wondering if you could maybe take it easy on us today? This week we've already faced Slaughterbots, Slug Soldiers, and a pack of Rabbid Space Gerbils."

"Then good news, Penn Zero," she said as they stepped onto the platform. "Today is day of relaxing, quiet—"

"Don't toy with me Phyllis. I'm feeling very vulnerable."

"Quiet starting now!"

She pushed a lever and they got zapped in.

* * *

Penn opened his eyes to see him in a fast food employer's outfit. He looked around and his eyes lit up to see that they were in a mall. "We work in a food court?" he gasped excitedly. "We're just normal, everyday schlobs!"

"I know!" Boone thrilled. "I'm middle-aged! Check it out. Clicky knee!" He bent his leg to produce a clicking sound coming from it.

"So another 'normal' world, huh?" Verge noticed, sitting on Penn's employer's hat. She didn't have her form changed this time around. She placed her head in her hand and pouted. "Well, this should be interesting."

"I detect sarcasm, Divergent," Penn called out. "Try lightening up a bit! This could be good for us!"

Sashi entered the scene, twirling a guarding stick. "I could get used to this," she smirked. She turned to her friends. "Just let some lowlife pull the five-finger discount on my watch!"

They stared, blinking, as she pointed the stick at them. "Calm yourself, Sash," Verge warned.

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

As she strapped the stick at her belt, Boone examined the court. "This place is empty!" he noted. "Could this be the world's biggest game of hide-and-seek? Are we it?"

Suddenly, Verge's pointy ears perked up when noticed something lurking in the shadows. It gave her the chills. She flew off Penn's hat, hoping to examine it, and he went and lay down on the counter.

"It's perfect!" he declared. "So, what have we got, Sash? Refill the napkin dispensers? Take out the garbage? Clean the grill?"

Sashi went to check the Specs. "OK—" But then she got interrupted when ketchup flew at her face and messed with the technology. _"Boone!"_

The boy suddenly turned to her, a ketchup bottle in his hands. "Oops. Sorry 'bout that. But hey, on the plus side, _Ketchup Cat in the hayse!"_

Sashi glared and flicked her Specs at him. "Ketchup Cat better pray there's an eyeglass repair shop in this mall. Or we'll never figure out what we're doing here! Verge, you coming?"

The three turned to the small fairy, who was currently inspecting the empty tables for that shadow she thought she saw. Penn frowned. "Verge? Everything OK?"

She then snapped back to reality. "Wha—Oh. Sorry. I thought I…saw something."

"Come on, " Sashi said. "We need to fix the Specs."

"Sure, I'll tag along." Verge flew over and sat on her shoulder. Sashi walked away from the fast food store.

Penn and Boone waved at them. "Consider us in ultra-high alert mode!" Penn promised.

Once the girls had walked away, Verge said, "They're so not going to take it seriously."

Sashi smiled. "Right guess. But it's up to us to find a store to fix these things. You check the higher floors, I'll check the grounds."

And so they did. After splitting up, all Verge could find was one eyeglass store in the third floor. However, that store wasn't open. She continued to search, but the more she looked, the more she wished she hadn't split up with Sashi. The mall was deserted. There were no signs of humans anywhere. It was bad enough there weren't any stores open. There weren't any people at all.

Verge reunited with Sashi a few minutes later. "Any luck?" she asked.

"Only found one store and its closed."

Sashi sighed. "Great. What did we expect from a mall with no people in it?"

Verge hesitated. "Well, I know I don't know much about tech stuff, but maybe I can fix it."

Sashi's eyes widened slightly. "What makes you think you can fix it?"

"I dunno. I've seen the Zeros work on stuff before. Let me see what I can remember."

"Well, it's not like we have any choice of the matter now."

Sashi took her glasses off and handed them over. Verge took them and used her small fairy hands to carefully fix the wires.

"So. How is life living with Penn?"

"Oh, it's not that bad. He can be a handful at times, be a bit troublesome to take care of, and need some company every now and then, but being his roommate is no different than being his best friend. I experience the things you guys do."

"Well, maybe so, but what's it like when you sleep under the same roof he does?"

Verge hesitated. "Just think of it like having a slightly older brother. You think you were the one born first." She smiled smugly.

Sashi smirked. "You guys are really close, Verge. What's going to happen when you find your old dimension?"

At those words, Verge stopped working. What would happen? She really didn't know. She didn't want to leave Penn and her friends, but she certainly wanted to spend some time in the world she used to live in. But deserting Penn would be the last thing she would ever want.

"I guess I'd still find a way to stay here."

"That's good to know. We'd really miss you."

"I'd miss you too…" Then Verge got a suspicious look. "Why are you asking all this?"

Sashi shrugged. "Can I help being curious?" Then she smiled. "Look, Verge, I have to say I'm worried. You and Penn are growing older and he's at that age where—"

"OK, I know what you're going to say."

"You do?"

"Yes. Please don't continue. Penn and I are like brother and sister! There's no reason to get all fussed about it! You have nothing to worry about."

Brother and sister. Is that what Verge really thought about them?

Sashi chuckled. "Just keeping an eye out for my girl best friend." She punched Verge's shoulder, ever so lightly.

"Thanks. 'Appreciate it. Although, I'd _really_ appreciate it if you never ask these things again and just be yourself." Sashi scoffed and smiled. Verge finally figured out the problem with the Specs as she closed the small hatch and held it up proudly. "And it's done!"

"Awesome!" Sashi picked the glasses up and examined them as she put them on. "You know technology a bit more than you think. How'd you do it?"

Verge grinned. "I guess I just sorta tinkered with it! Didn't expect to fix something right on the first try. Anyway, check the Specs, Sash!"

The girl nodded. "OK, hold on." Sashi checked their mission, and her eyes widened. "I can see now why there aren't any people."

"Why?"

"That fast food place Penn and Boone are watching over?"

"Yeah?"

"It's bad news. Apparently, it sells infected burgers that causes people to turn into zombies!"

"Sash, look out!"

The girl turned and screamed when she saw a zombie right behind her. Verge immediately grew to human size and sent a burst of ice in its face. The zombie flew back, now buried under snow.

"I feel annoyed for not taking it down myself, but thanks!"

"I knew I saw something at the food court!" Verge cried out. "So Brainzburgerz is the cause of this. This is why I'm a vegetarian!"

"We have to warn the boys!" Sashi said, taking her Specs off for safekeeping.

Verge quickly turned to the side and her eyes lit up when she saw a police's indoor scooter. She quickly flew over and tried starting it. Luckily, there were batteries still working in it. "Sash!"

The girl smirked as she quickly hopped on the scooter. "Get on!"

Verge shrunk to her small size and turned to see the zombie getting out of the snow. "Move!"

Sashi revved the scooter. It got moving, and she knocked the zombie over. "One down!" Verge cheered.

The girls then looked over at the ledge and saw more zombies had just burst into the mall. "A billion more to go!"

"Let's get going, Divergent!" Sashi started the scooter again, and they started searching for Penn and Boone.

Zombies came and tried to attack, but Sashi ran them over and Verge used her nature magic to hold them down. They were going around the mall in circles. It was as if they weren't getting anywhere. "Where could they be?" Sashi cried out.

"They could be anywhere! They have to hide, can't they?"

"Well then, use your fairy instincts or something! You _are_ the fairy guide here!"

"Oh, yeah. Hold up!" Verge closed her eyes and concentrated. She had to focus on where Penn and Boone's sound and presence. She didn't know how it was possibly, but she felt like she could hear voices from miles away.

Her fairy ears picked up when she heard screaming.

"Make a left!" she shouted out.

Sashi did. They rode the scooter up an escalator, where there appeared to be more zombies on that floor. "Go forward!" Verge instructed.

As Sashi continued to knock down zombies, Verge buried some of them under snow. "Make another left!" she said. "They're around this corner!"

Sashi nodded. There were zombies heading for the same direction they were. They finally came to a dead end and found Penn and Boone surrounded by zombies. Sashi steered around them and knocked all the zombies down.

"Yes!" Verge cheered, high-fiving Sashi.

"Guys!" Penn cried out.

Sashi smiled, putting her Specs back on. "Turns out its hard to find an eyeglass store that stays open during the zombie apocalypse."

"All right, hop on boys!" Verge shouted.

They grinned and quickly got behind Sashi. More zombies were coming. Using water magic this time, Verge flooded all of them away. As they sped away, Boone asked, "How did you find an open eyeglass store if nobody's around?"

"Verge fixed it," Sashi explained.

"I thought you knew nothing about technology," Penn pointed out.

"Apparently, I do now!" Verge said, raising her hands. "We've been over this, people! I don't tell you everything! Sash, explain the mission."

Sashi nodded. "Brainzburgerz is an evil corporation attempting to take over the world by turning everyone into zombies with infected burgers."

"What's a fast food guy supposed to do about it?" Penn asked.

"In your typical zombie movie, the hero is an everyman, who discovers that there's more to him that meets the eye!" Boone explained.

"Well, good luck with that, Zero," Verge said, patting his shoulder.

"The cure falls into your hands," Sashi said. "So you're the only one who can deliver it to a nearby government base!"

"But I don't have the cure!" Penn protested.

"The antidote is supposed to be in a metal briefcase."

"Metal briefcase!" Penn suddenly got a memory in his mind and gasped.

"Have you thought of something?" Verge asked.

Penn was about to respond but then they stopped moving. "Batteries dead."

"I knew I should've stole extras at the hardware store."

"The cure is in that fountain!" Penn shouted, pointing at the bottom floor. "There!" He screamed out when he saw zombies occupying the escalator.

"How are we gonna get to it?"

"I have an idea!"

Apparently, Penn's brilliant idea was hanging by the banner hanging right above the fountain. "Yeah, that was a bad idea." It was like more than a ten-foot drop.

His friends glared at him. Penn laughed awkwardly. "Thought the fountain would be a little closer. My bad. Relax! Zombies can't untie knots!"

Boone raised an eyebrow. "Well, somebody's never seen 'Zombies Ahoy'!"

They all gasped when they saw a zombie in a sailor suit coming up to the banner. "Really?!" Penn shouted. "Sailor zombie in a mall! Unbelievable!"

"We are going to fall!" Verge yelled out.

Her friends stared at her in disbelief.

The fairy chuckled. "Right, just messing with you."

The moment the sailor zombie untied the banner's knot, Verge flew away from it and dusted her friends. They screamed as they fell, but then felt themselves slowly floating in the air. They landed in the fountain, unharmed, and Penn got hold of the briefcase.

"Yes!"

However, more zombies started surrounding them. They all got out of the water and started punching and kicking all of them away. "We made it!" Penn shouted.

But once they got out of the mall, they only found more zombies. "With an even worse situation! No!"

The streets were crawling with them. Humans were screaming and running away as the zombies forced them to eat Brainzburgerz. They were like an infectious disease. No one could get away.

Lights suddenly blinded them and they looked up. "Helicopter!" Boone cried. "We're saved!"

"Try again!" Verge shouted, pointing. The Helicopter had the words "Brainzburgerz" on it. The door opened and Rippen and Larry appeared.

"Or not!"

"Verge, you gotta get us out of here!" Sashi shouted.

"On it!" Verge quickly started flying around her friends, spreading the fairy dust. They started floating again, and they were in the air before a zombie could get to them.

"I see the base!" she shouted, flying forward. "Follow me!"

They did. They flew over the city, watching as zombies fed humans the burgers. It wasn't a pretty sight.

They arrived at the dock before they knew it. The three landed by the rails. "All right!" Penn said. "There's the government base!"

"Boone!" Verge yelled out. Penn and Sashi turned and gasped to see the boy eating a familiar green burger.

"Sorry," he said. "When I get stressed, I eat."

"Don't apologize to us! Apologize to yourself!"

Boone suddenly perked up and held his head in pain. When he looked back up, he was looking zombie-ish. Zombie Boone picked up his burger again and advanced on Penn.

"Boone! No!" he screamed. Zombie Boone tried forcing the burger into his mouth. Verge was trying to pull him off.

Until Sashi went and kicked him away.

Zombie Boone fell to the floor, but he only got back up again. "Sashi!" Verge cried.

"Sorry, Verge! But there's no helping him now!"

"Our only chance to save him is to get this to the base!" Penn said.

"All right…look, a boat!"

Verge pointed at the dock and quickly flew over to the speedboat there. She quickly handed her friends life jackets and they got in. Taking the rope off, they took off into the sea.

Verge was at the head of the boat, eyes on the base. "We'll be there in approximately three minutes!" she declared.

"Why couldn't you just fly us over there, Verge?" Sashi asked.

The fairy turned and her eyes widened. "Because it would be harder to avoid _that!"_

She pointed upwards. The Brainzburgerz helicopter was following them. The vehicle flew before the boat and Rippen used a microphone to call out to them.

"Penn Zero! I see you somehow managed to stumble upon the antidote. No matter! I brought a special toy. Just for you!"

The helicopter hatch opened and Rippen stood there, next to a burger launcher. He used it and rapidly shot burgers at their boat.

"Take cover!" Verge yelled, turning into human size and jumping onto Penn, pushing him down. A burger was heading straight for them

"Penn, Verge! No!" Sashi went and jumped in front of the two, taking the burger for herself.

"Sashi!" they cried out.

As the burgers rained upon them, Verge used her protection magic to block any more out. She noticed something in the boat. "Zero! Use that gun!"

Penn understood and took the flare gun from the boat. Verge stopped the field and handed him a burger. He stuck it in the gun and fired it at the helicopter. They couldn't see where it hit but the burger barrage finally stopped.

Verge was shaking Sashi. "Sash? Sash?! Say something!"

"Sash! Are you OK?!"

Sashi turned and Verge saw her zombie face. She gasped. Zombie Sashi tried feeding her a burger.

"Verge!" Penn pushed her away, and Zombie Sashi ended up kicking Penn down and try feeding him a burger as well.

Penn had no choice but to kick Zombie Sashi into the ocean. She came right back up, fed a dolphin, and it turned into a zombie dolphin.

Penn helped Verge up. She held her head, but she was more concerned about Sashi. "There's no hope for her now."

The boy turned to find Zombie Sashi riding the dolphin to catch up to them. "Sashi, I like it a lot better when you're on our side!" Penn shouted out, steering the boat.

"Speed it up!" Verge yelled. Penn pushed a lever, and the turbo and the speedboat increased.

"Almost there!" the fairy cheered. But then her happiness dropped. "Oh wings."

There were some zombies at the entrance. Apparently, they managed to make it across the water. They were pounding at the base's entrance. But once Penn and Verge landed, their attention was drawn to them and they started advancing.

"How will we get past them?" Penn cried out.

"Not us," Verge said slowly. _"You._ It's all on you now, Zero."

"Verge, what are you—"

"Just remember. I may be a vegetarian, but I do know one thing. Burgers go great with fries!"

Before he could ask what that could ever mean, Verge threw a handful of dust at his face. He coughed and sneezed, causing him to fly up in the air. Verge faced the zombies, glared, and charged.

"Verge, no!" Penn cried. But the zombies already started surrounding her. She was fighting with them, using protection and nature magic to attack. Penn couldn't tell if she already got turned.

Penn bit his lip. "Don't worry, Verge."

He quickly flew to the entrance while it was still wide open. He quickly looked for the base's meeting room. Once he neared it, he heard voices.

"I say we board our escape shuttle, blast off, and start a new life on the moon!"

The red-haired boy went and kicked the door down. "General! Send the Man in the Moon your regrets! 'Cause we're having a potluck on Earth and this everyman is bringing the antidote!"

The General raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. Who are you, and why are you throwing a potluck?"

Penn stepped forward. "Uh, I was just trying to sound cool. I don't know if that was effective, or…but I got the cure for the zombie apocalypse?"

He opened the briefcase, revealing the cures. The General smiled and turned to his team. "You heard this fast food employee! Initiate Operation Stop-Crazy-Zombie-Hamburger-Attack!"

The team cheered. But then the General started hesitating. "How are we going to get the cure to the zombies?"

That's when Penn's eyes lit up. An idea came to him.

"Excuse me, General, but I actually have one thought."

Penn told them his plan. They all agreed and started preparing. The young hero guided them all. Once they were ready, they prepared army tanks and headed for the Surface. Luckily, there were plenty of zombies on the streets.

"Hey, zombies!" Penn shouted out. "You know what goes great with burgers? _A side of fries!" _

At those words, French fry ammo shot out of the tanks, landing on the street floor near the zombies. Once they took a bite out of them, the zombies had returned to their normal human selves.

"Making French Fries out of the cure was simply brilliant!" the General said, rubbing Penn's hair. "But it was your minimum wage bravery that saved the world!"

"Please stop," Penn said, pushing his hand off. "Sorry. I'm sorry. It's just that your fingers have French fry grease on them."

The zombies all returned to normal by the time the sun rose over the city. Penn shook hands with the General. "It was nice doing business with you, young hero."

"Glad to be of help!" Penn turned and found Boone and Sashi reunited. He quickly walked over to them.

"Hey, Penn!" Boone called out, waving.

"Hey, guys," Penn said. Then he frowned. "Where's Verge?"

"She's not with you?" Sashi asked.

"No…"

"Over here!" The three looked up to see the fairy flying above them, slowly landing beside Penn. He grinned and gave her a big hug.

"Thanks for that idea, Vergie."

She shrugged. "Honestly, I just told you that because I didn't want the cure to be something made out of meat. But I'm glad you listened."

"Well, what hero would I be if I didn't follow my fairy guide?" Penn grinned and turned to his team. "It's good to have you back."

"Guess this assignment wasn't as relaxing as you hoped," Sashi noted.

"No, but boring or dangerous, saving the day is all part of the job."

"Glad to know that," Verge grinned as he patted her friend's shoulder and they did a fist bump.

Then, Boone looked to the ground and perked up. "Sweet! Free burger!"

"No!" his friends shouted.

As Boone chewed, he slowly turned to a zombie, but he also picked up a fry, ate it, and turned right back to normal. "Sweet! Free burger!"

Penn, Verge, and Sashi stared at him. "Sweet! Free burger!" They exchanged deadpanned looks as Boone did the same thing. "Sweet! Free burger!"

"Sweet! Free burg—" As he turned to normal one last time, Sashi kicked him in the gut.

"You enjoyed that one, didn't you?"

"Most definitely."

**Can I just add for a fact that my brother _could not shut up _about this episode? Zombies excite him, I guess .3.**


	11. Chuckle City

**Episode 9: Chuckle City**

* * *

**Hah, I gotta admit. The looks on how this fanfic is doing isn't bringing my motivation up any higher.**

* * *

"Got any fives?" Penn asked.

"Go fish," Verge replied.

"Why are we playing this again?"

"Because it's a game with an animal in it. I want to try it."

"Hey! Penn! Verge! Check it out!"

The roommates looked up from their little card game to find Boone by their door. He was reading a magazine that read "Jugglers Weekly" across the front.

"It says here that most of the famous jugglers out there all started with one ball!"

"Cool! We could easily do that!" Penn said.

"Sure sounds awesome," Verge agreed, flying off her matchbox bed and reaching out under Penn's desk. "You guys better get started. Think fast!"

Verge came out from under the desk and threw a baseball at them. Boone caught it immediately. He immediately threw it to Penn, who caught it and threw it back. This went on for a few more turns. "Yeah!" Boone cheered. "We're on a roll."

The fairy chuckled and flew up before them with her arms crossed. "I dare you to continue that until we make it to the Odyssey."

"That's just gonna be easy, Vergie," Penn said, smirking. "We can totally do this."

"We'll see." The fairy flew out the room, her two friends following behind them, still juggling.

They did continue to juggle the ball as they arrived at the Odyssey. They even met Sashi at the entrance, whose eyes widened when she saw them. "What are you doing?"

"My dare," Verge explained.

"We're juggling!" Boone said, as Verge opened the door for them. "Aaaaaand…the dare's done!"

"Told you we could do it!" Penn said, as they still continued to juggle as they arrived into the cinema.

Sashi frowned. "You can't call it juggling if you're using one ball."

"All the famous jugglers started with one ball!"

"Name one famous juggler."

Boone proudly held up his Jugglers Weekly magazine. "Lazlo Matavaqua."

Verge flew over to Sashi. "Just let them be. They've been at this since Boone came to pick us up." Sashi rolled her eyes at the boys.

"Oh, yeah!" Boone said, tossing the ball to Penn.

"And the crowd goes wild! Yay!"

They were interrupted when a hatch from the floor opened up and knocked Boone over. Phyllis came out of it, eyeing the children. "Time for silliness is over. Prepare for danger like you've never imagined!"

The four exchanged nervous looks.

They stepped onto the platform and Phyllis zapped them in.

* * *

The first thing Penn and Sashi saw was the ground.

_"We're falling!"_

They screamed as they fell, seeing nothing beneath them, until a woman pulled a lever, and a pie appeared. The two immediately fell into it.

Sashi came out of the pie, realizing she was holding a baby, and handed it over to the woman. She smiled as she revealed the baby's face and found a man's. "Thanks, bub."

It pressed a flower on him and water spouted out, hitting Sashi in the face. She made a low growling sound.

Penn was eating pie out of the one he landed in. "That was sweet!" he cried out.

Sashi scoffed. "Who uses a pie to break someone's fall?"

"I think that's the point!"

The two looked around to find that there were clowns everywhere. They were doing silly things and making each other chuckle. "The clownspeople will do whatever it takes to make each other laugh! Haha! Look at it!"

"That sounds like an awesome city!" Verge's voice called out as she flew at Penn's side. She was wearing big blue and red suspenders and her brown hair was puffed out. She was also wearing clown makeup, had a round red nose, golden clown shoes, and white gloves.

Penn grinned up at her. "I know right?"

Verge was laughing really loudly. "These clowns are hilarious! I can't stop chuckling!"

"They make me want to break something," Sashi growled. "I don't understand how they make you laugh, Verge. I thought you don't get human jokes."

"Are you kidding? Clowns are what make me _understand_ human jokes! I love them!" She tiny high-fived with Penn as they both chuckled.

Sashi only rolled her eyes. "If you say so, then. All right, obviously, Penn and I are clown police. Boone must be at HQ. Let's roll."

But Penn and Verge were too busy smiling at the clowns. "Hey, Zero, look at that!"

"Ha! Pie in the face! Classic!"

Sashi sighed as she had to drag the two of them with her.

When they arrived at the HQ entrance, two guards were there, who made armpit noises as they entered. Verge couldn't help giggling.

The inside was just as hilarious. A man used a fake phone and a boxing glove punched a clown in the face. Verge and Penn laughed out loud at that.

"Law and order isn't funny business!" Sashi protested, pushing them. "Shouldn't you guys be doing cop stuff?"

A police only smiled at her. "Shouldn't you be getting sprayed in the face?" He used a water dispenser to shoot a blast of water at her. All the clowns laughed.

Verge was holding her stomach laughing. She already fell in Penn's hand from laughing too hard. "Sorry, Sash, but you gotta admit that was funny!"

Sashi only growled again as she pushed Penn away. Suddenly, the three heard a voice.

_"Hey you three clowns! Get in here or you're suspended!"_

Holding Verge in her hand, Penn got on the platform of a strength test and someone hammered them up into the office above. The clown did the same thing to Sashi. They arrived at the top with Penn and Sashi hitting their heads at the end of the strength test. A giant glove pushed them into the office.

Verge flew off Penn's hand and grew to human size. "Whoa. That was intense."

Boone was there, laughing as they arrived. He cleared his throat. "Have a seat."

The three of them sat down on the three seats, but a loud noise sounded out from under them. Boone laughed. "Oops! Where did those come from?"

Verge was actually laughing as she took a whoopee cushion from under her. "That was awesome!"

"Guys," Sashi said seriously. "We're not here to play with whoopee cushions."

"I get it," Boone said, standing. "That was my bad, I'm sorry."

He went to sit down again, but another whoopee cushion was sounded. Penn, Boone, and Verge burst out into laughter.

"It's funny," Penn wheezed. "'Cause it sounds like, ah, you know!"

"Hey!" Sashi's voice stopped all their chuckling. "I don't wanna _hear_ another whoopee cushion, I don't wanna _see_ another whoopee cushion, and I don't wanna _sit on—"_ She was interrupted when she stood up and her head hit a whoopee cushion.

"So no whoopee cushions then," Boone said. "OK." He reached into his desk and started pulling all of his whoopee cushions out of it. He sure had a lot. They all landed on the floor and slowly let out all the air in it.

"Thank you!" Sashi sighed, checking the Specs. "Our mission is to save Chuckle City from…" She deadpanned at what she saw. "…a giant whoopee cushion."

"Awesome!" Verge cried.

"No, _not_ awesome!"

"You're right, Sash," Penn said. "How can we stop this _hilarious_ weapon?"

"Notorious evil clowns, Farkling and Flailey, need the launch key to activate the weapon. But it's under the protection of the police commissioner."

"Aw, no!" Boone said. "The police commissioner left his placard on my desk!"

Verge raised her eyebrow at that. "Seriously?"

"What?"

Suddenly, a giant glove came and ripped a hole in the tent, reaching in a pulling Boone up by his underpants. "If I survive this, make sure the police commissioner gets his placard back!" Boone called. "Oh, wait! Guys! I think it's me! I'm the police commissioner!"

"Ya think?!" Verge yelled.

The three stared in horror as they watched the glove take him away. Verge saw a glimpse of Evil Clown Rippen laughing at them. "Come on, guys!" Sashi shouted as they all went to follow him.

As they exited the tent, the two clown guards slapped themselves. But they were ignored this time. Sashi went over to a police car and shouted, "Out!"

"OK!" a clown said, getting out. He was followed by five more clowns. The same clowns, only about the same size as Verge, came out after them. Another clown on stilts came out again.

"This is getting old!" Sashi said.

"It _was_ getting old, now it's coming back around to funny again," Penn said as an intruplet of clowns then came out, dancing.

"How are they even fitting in that little car?" Verge asked, intrigued. The last clown threw confetti over Sashi's head.

"I hate this town," she muttered. Verge looked over at her friend and she frowned.

"Come on!" Penn said, getting into the driver's seat. Verge flew over his shoulder as he took the wheel. The police alarm sounded out as they drove off.

Verge suddenly saw something they passed by and went to check it out the window. Five cars were following them, and they looked like evil-clown cars.

"Farkling's goons," Verge confirmed. "Pedal to the metal, Zero!"

He nodded, and stepped on the gas, a whoopee cushion under it creating a sound. They were able to move faster, but the cars still came in. They did a loop-the-loop on the road and entered a car cave. One of the goons tried attacking them with water balloons, but Penn dodged them. Verge raised her hands up, laughing.

"That was fun!"

"Verge! Focus!" Sashi shouted, holding a gun she found in the car and poked her head out the window. "Make my day, you bozos!"

She pulled the trigger, but a white flag with the word "Bang!" came out of it. Sashi tried another gun, but it only squirted out water. She went to check what was wrong with it, but a boxing glove punched her in the face.

Penn and Verge exchanged a worried look. "Uh, you're missing the point here," Penn said as got on a high wire and swung the car on a trapeze. "This world has its own rules. Find your inner clown, Sash!"

"It's not that hard," Verge said calmly as they landed back on the road.

"Maybe for you two!"

"No, really! You gotta embrace your wacky side! Here, take the wheel." Penn literally handed the car wheel over to her. He and Verge laughed. "Hahaha! Classic!"

"Good one!" Verge guffawed.

Sashi only gasped and put the wheel back. Her eyes widened when she saw what Penn was holding. "Huh?! Is that _bacon_?!"

"Well, technically, it's turkey bacon, but it should do the trick!"

Penn held his pan of boiling bacon up and turned it upside down. The oil spilled all over the road, and three cars slipped all over it. Two more cars were still standing. One car drove right over.

"Oh, oh, my turn!" Verge said, grinning. She held up a small, wrapped-up present.

"What are you doing?!" Sashi demanded.

Verge ignored her and flew right over to the car. She knocked on the small window and the clown looked at her, confused. "Merry Christmas!" she said, handing the gift over and flying off.

"Oh, thanks!" He opened the gift. "Wait, it's not Christmas—" The bomb in it exploded in his face before he could finish his sentence.

Penn was laughing. "The ol' exploding gift gag! Nice!" He and Verge did a tiny fist-bump. Sashi only stared at them in disbelief.

One last car came up to them. The goon went and shot pies at their car. Verge was able to shield them from it. Sashi got a serious look on her face.

"Sorry, guys! But I don't do wacky!"

She tried ramming their police car into the goons' but it only dodged it by lifting their car up higher. The police car fell off the cliff they were on.

Penn and Sashi screamed, but Verge was ready to fly. "Hang on, guys! I can dust us out of this!"

"Hold on!" Sashi said, determined to fix her mistake. "There's an emergency parachute!"

"Sashi, no!" Penn warned. "You don't know what might—"

She didn't listen and pulled at the string. A ten thousand kilogram dumbbell appeared from it and started weighing down more.

"What part of 'be silly' do you not understand?!" Penn shouted. "Don't worry, I got this!" He reached into his suspenders and pulled out a snake and a birthday cake before pulling out a giant pair of underwear. "Now _this_ is a clown-world parachute!"

He grabbed Sashi and Verge and jumped out of the car. It landed on the ground with a big "Kaboom!" flag while the three heroes landed safely in the underwear. Verge was giggling as she popped out from the white cloth.

"That was too awesome!" she said.

"That was close, too," Penn added.

But Sashi wasn't smiling. "I don't belong here."

Penn and Verge exchanged a look. "What do you mean, Sash?"

"I can't even take out a bad guy! I drove us off a cliff! Your _underpants_ are more helpful than me."

"Sash, no," Verge said, flying over to her. "That's not true."

"It _is_, Verge. I'm gonna blow off the whole mission!" She sadly took off her police badge off her hat. "I got to set this one out."

She tried throwing it away, but it Verge secretly used wind magic to bring it back. Sashi tried again, but the wind blew it back. She gave up and threw it in the water, but Verge created a giant gust of water to blast it back over her head. "_Verge_!"

"I'm not doing anything."

"How did you even do that..."

"I don't tell you everything."

Giving up, she decided to walk away. "Sashi!" Penn called. "No, wait!"

"Come on, Sash,"

But the girl only shook her head. "Forget it, guys. It's Chuckle City."

With those words, she walked off. Her friends frowned as they watched her go.

"We've got to do something," Verge said.

"Unfortunately, that thing is go after Rippen. I'm counting on you, Verge."

"Me?"

"You're her girl best friend! Talk to her. She listens to you!"

Verge hesitated, but nodded eventually. "All right. You can count on me!" At that, she quickly flew after Sashi.

"…I always do."

Verge searched the entire city, but she soon found Sashi at a clown bar. She seemed to be talking to the clown manning it. She quickly flew right over, and turned to human size. "Sash, you OK?"

"Hey, Verge…no, not really."

The clown at the bar raised an eyebrow. "You know this sad sack?"

"Yes, she's my friend."

"OK, then. So, what'll it be?"

"Just a water." Sashi said sadly.

"Same over here."

The clown went and sprayed water at their faces. Verge laughed, but Sashi kept her sad face. Verge frowned at that.

"Huh!" the bartender said. "Don't get a lot of sound clowns in here! Creepy clowns, sure. No offense, Henry." The weird clown from across the bar only stared.

"I'm not sad," Sashi said. "I'm angry that I'm a terrible clown!"

"You're not that terrible," Verge said.

"Really, Verge? Really?"

They heard a squeak beside them, and found an inflatable bear. Sashi punched it and it bounced back. She kept punching it and it kept squeaking. She had enough and just pounced on it.

"Yep. Not a terrible clown."

Suddenly, they heard a radio-like voice sound out. _"This just in! The giant whoopee cushion has been turned towards Chuckle City, and inflating! Everyone should evacuate in an orderly_ fashion." They looked to see a clown reading from a newspaper, pretending he was from the radio. He went and turned his dramatic music off and walked away.

"Oh no!" Sashi cried. "Penn needs us, Verge!" She went to run off, but bumped into the inflatable bear.

Everyone laughed, so Sashi took the bartender by the suspenders and glared. "Hey! Watch the felt!"

"Listen to me! I need to be silly! But it's my job to be tough! What am I gonna do?"

"Sash, you _are_ silly!" Verge protested. "There's this other side in you that can sometimes make people laugh. You just gotta dig deep for it!"

"But how, Verge? I'm all action and fighting! I don't do jokes and laughing."

"That's the _point_, Sash! Your toughness it what activates your funniness! The two combined is what makes you a funny person! And besides, clowns need to be tough!"

"She's right, you know," the clown bartender said. "You have to be tough to be able to laugh at yourself! That's why clowns can bounce back from anything! Go ahead, insult me, take a shot."

"Uh…OK? You…have a big butt?"

The clown gasped. "What?! This bad botch right here?!" His pants suddenly ripped to reveal his underpants. They were pink, and in the middle of it was a heart. Verge giggled, while Sashi actually smiled. The underpants continued to rip, and revealed more pictures, as if telling a story. Verge burst into laughter, and Sashi actually laughed with her.

The clown grinned. "Aha, see? Laughing at yourself is the first step to being a good clown."

Sashi seemed to understand. She turned and smiled at Verge, who nudged her knowingly.

"Now, they can help you through steps two to thirty-six." The clown pointed outside to a tent that said "5 Second Clown University"

"Go, Sash!" Verge cheered as she pushed her into a catapult.

"Knock 'em dead, kid!" the clown called out. He jumped from the ladder he was on, sending Sashi flying off and into the tent. "Nice working with ya." he told Verge, shaking her hand.

Verge bowed. "And to you." As soon as she said that, a boxing glove came out from the back of her suspenders and punched him in the face. He managed to get up, laughing as Verge greeted Sashi from the university exit.

She was unicycle pedaling her way to victory. "Time to bust some guts!" she cried out.

"All right!" Verge cheered, pumping her fist as she flew above her friend.

Sashi smiled up at her. "Thanks too, Verge. I needed your encouragement."

"Hey, anytime, Sash." The two did a high-five.

They soon arrived at the whoopee cushion's location with Rippen glaring at them. "It's that fairy and the competent one," he gritted. "Get them!"

"You can do it, guys!" Penn called from behind a balloon jail. "Break their funny bones!"

They started off with Verge creating an ice road underneath Sashi's unicycle. It started making her slip and she jumped off. The unicycle smashed and crashed into some of Rippen's goons.

They first started for Sashi. She pretended that there was an invisible wall there. The clowns all bumped into it. Sashi then pretended to take the pin off a grenade. She threw it at the clowns, and they all exploded off.

"Silent but deadly," Boone giggled.

It was Verge's turn. Rippen's goons started to surround her. What could a clown fairy do in a situation like this? Verge got a magician's hat out from her suspenders and showed it to them. They were confused. She waved a hand over the hat and pulled out a bouquet of flowers. Water spouted in their faces. The goons were angry. But when she waved her hand again, a lion came out this time. It roared at the goons, causing them to scream and run off. Verge grinned as she patted the lion's head and it licked her.

"Now, _that's_ a magic trick!" Penn laughed.

Back to Sashi. Goons were also surrounding her. She reached into her own suspenders and brought out a bunch of bananas. She spread them out on the ground around her and stepped on one. She started to slip and slide, causing the goons to laugh at her. But every time, she always knocked one of them out.

That was the last of them. Verge took Sashi's graduation hat off her head and threw it at Penn's direction. The balloon jail immediately popped and he was free.

"That was amazing!" he exclaimed. "And funny!" Verge helped him up and they fist-bumped.

However, the whoopee cushion had already fully inflated. A giant mechanical butt was lifted into the air. "I'm afraid your personal break-through has come a little too late!" Rippen said.

"Penn!" Sashi called. "Stretch out your suspenders!" He and Verge went to a nearby tree.

"Time to let'a rip!"

Sashi got on their makeshift sling. "It's showtime!" She released herself, causing her to fly off, and knock Rippen into a tree, dangling by his underpants.

"I know it hurts now, but you get used to it!" Boone called. "Eventually!"

Verge quickly flew over and cut him free. Sashi took care of Larry by using a gun with a "Bang!" flag to aim at him. Rippen saw the whoopee cushion being aimed at him.

"Oh no! Please, no!"

"Sorry, Rip," Penn smirked. "You smelt it, dealt it!"

"No, but that doesn't make sense, it's—"

The mechanical butt sat down on the whoopee cushion and a green gas burst out of it, sending Rippen flying off, screaming.

"Yeah!" Verge cheered, flying up in the air.

"Quadruple fist bump!"

* * *

Once the heroes got zapped back home, Phyllis was greeted by the same green gas. She had no comment.

"That was great, guys!" Penn commented, patting Verge's shoulder. "Especially Sash!"

"Maybe now you'll have a sense of humor in real life too," Boone smirked.

The girls then looked at each other and smiled slyly. Sashi went over to both boys and gave them wedgies.

_"Ow!"_

Verge doubled over, laughing. "Oh, gets me every time!"

Sashi high-fived Verge and smirked down at the boys. "Come on. Learn to take a joke!"

* * *

**Wooo I just realized this is officially my first fanfic to ever get past ten chapters! xD**


	12. Flurgle Burgle

**Episode 10: Flurgle Burgle**

* * *

**OMGODSOMGODSOMGODS**

**A certain guest reviewer gave me the **_**perfect **_**idea for a new episode! The moment I read it, I wanted to post it right away! Unfortunately, I'm can't start working on it just yet because I've got a ton of things to do, such as preparing for my plane trip and working on a new fanfic. So it might take about more or less ten chapters before I can finish it Q-Q**

**But if you're that awesome guest reviewer and you're reading this note right now, I really wish I knew your name so I can thank you ^^ Also, I want you to give me more ideas for this episode! Maybe I could use your own character in it, if you don't mind? ;)**

**Anyway, on with this story! This episode was one of my favorites!**

* * *

Lunchtime at MCHS. Penn, Boone, and Sashi were bringing out their lunches in the cafeteria. Penn and Sashi watched as Boone opened his lunchbox and fireworks came out of it. They exchanged a glance as Boone started sniffing a towel. "Ah. Refreshing."

He pressed a button on his box. "The perfectly balanced Boone lunch. Milk, for healthy teeth and bones. Carrots, for my peepers. Fish, to make my brain smart."

"How does fish make you smart?" Penn asked.

"I dunno. Haven't eaten it yet. What'd you get?"

"Looks like Uncle Chuck's deconstructed hamburger. Mystery meat, tomato soup instead of ketchup, and a handful of flour for the bun." He coughed as the flour started to spread. But then he smiled. "And this is why having a fairy for a roommate can sometimes be useful."

Verge suddenly came out of Penn's paper bag, grinning as she held out a fast-food plastic bag. Boone and Sashi stared. "I got two burgers, an entire bag of fries, some of that sparkling water, and of course, my infamous seaweed salad."

"Nice." Penn grinned as they did a tiny fist bump.

"How long has Verge been in there?" Boone questioned.

She and Penn blinked at him. "We don't tell you everything." They stared at each other and laughed.

Boone rolled his eyes playfully and turned to Sashi. His eyes lit up when he saw Sashi's food. "Ooh, Sashi got cake? Is it your birthday?"

"My birthday is on a need-to-know basis and you do not need to know!" she snapped. Then she frowned. "My brother is on the Horticulture Team. He made All-City Green Thumbs, so my parents baked him a cake. It's all yours. If I eat sugar, I get jumpy."

"Can I eat some of that?" Verge asked eagerly.

"Sure, but I thought you were a vegetarian?"

"I like sugar, is that a problem?" She hid behind Boone's lunch box as she ate away.

Sashi then perked up when she heard something. A large bird was walking by. _"~I've got spirit, yes I do! I got spirit, how about y—" _

Sashi cut him off by kicking it in the face.

"Uh, that was our mascot?" Penn said.

"We don't know who's in the costume!"

Boone went and took off the mascot's head, revealing a groaning kid's head. "Scary." Verge looked up, chewing with her icing-covered face.

"Awesome."

Sashi pulled the mascot by his legs into the janitor's closet. "This never happened."

Penn, Boone, and Verge stared. Then, there was a loud hissing. Boone's tea was ready. "Hey, Verge. Cakes always go well with tea."

"Cool, gimme some!"

"Guys, aren't you at least a little bit worried about Sash?" Penn questioned.

"Why should we?" Verge asked. "Sashi's all right!"

"Really, Verge? Really?" He gestured to the janitor's closet, where they heard some hitting noises.

Verge only shrugged. She finished her last share of the cake and her last sip of tea and walked over back to Penn's lunch bag. "We'll see for sure on today's mission. You don't have to worry too much, Zero! Now, if you'll excuse me."

She got in the bag. Penn raised an eyebrow and bit into a fry.

School ended soon after. Verge, Boone, and Sashi prepared to get onto the MUT platform, but Penn went and talked to Phyllis, who was fixing one of its parts.

"Phyllis, you smell great," Penn started. "Question: should we be worried that Sashi can't turn off the whole 'sidekick' thing?"

"How do you mean?" Phyllis asked. Penn frowned and pointed.

Sashi was kicking, tearing, and scratching the stuffing out of the dummies back and forth. She was like a tornado on overdrive. "OK! Let's do this."

Penn looked up at Phyllis. "Uh…" She only shrugged.

Going back on her platform, she pressed a button and zapped them in.

* * *

When Verge opened her eyes, the first thing she saw were stars. Then she looked down at her clothes and realized they weren't made out of leaves. They looked more high tech, and looked something identical to what Sashi was wearing, only in a black and golden style. She looked around and realized they were in a spaceship. She looked to her left and found Penn sitting in a chair in the middle of all this.

"Nice!" he commented. "Some kind of super high tech man cave. What are we watching?"

"The endless abyss of space…" Sashi replied. "…Admiral."

Penn's eyes lit up. "We're on a _spaceship? _Yes!_" _He then started to sing. _"~We're in space, we're in space! And I'm the Admiral! 'Cause we're in space~"_

"Admiral, we've been in space for three years straight," a blonde crewmember stated.

"And shame on you for taking it for granted!"

"No kidding, genius," Verge joked. "This place is wicked awesome! I get Sashi's a lieutenant though, but what am I?"

Penn hesitated. "My trusty space fairy?"

"That makes no sense."

"You're still a fairy guide, Verge, deal with it."

Verge tiny punched his shoulder playfully when the door opened, and Boone came into the room. "Whoa, cool man cave!" he said.

Following him was this little space alien. It scampered into the room, saying, _"Flurgle Burgle!" _

Verge immediately got "cuted out". _"Awww!" _she squealed, flying right over to it and rubbing its head. "It's so cute!"

"_Flurgle Burgle!" _it replied, licking her hand.

However, Sashi thought otherwise. "Alien threat!" she said, pointing her space gun at it. "I got this!"

"No, Sash!" Verge shouted, guarding the alien.

"Whoa!" Boone cried out, hands up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

Penn put a hand on the weapon. "Just put down the laser blaster!"

The blonde crewmember giggled. "Laser blaster? What is this? 2715?" All the other crewmembers guffawed with her.

"_Flurgle Burgle!" _the alien said happily, rolling over. Verge grinned widely and rubbed its belly. _"Flurgle Burgle!"_

"Uh, what is that?" Penn asked.

"Scientifically speaking," Boone started. "It's like a weird ugly dog that says 'Flurgle Burgle'."

"It is adorable," Verge insisted, the Flurgle nuzzling her. Penn bit his lip, restraining himself from pulling it away from her.

"If you think that's cute, check this out. Roll over, Flurgle!"

The alien dog responded by using its long nose to sniff its butt. _"Flurgle Burgle!" _

"Ewww!" the spaceship crew said, grossed out.

"What does it eat?" Verge asked eagerly.

Boone grinned and pulled something out of his pocket, waving it and raising his eyebrows. "You want a treat? Roll over, Flurgle!"

"_Flurgle Burgle!" _It did as Boone asked, and ate the treat. Boone scratched its belly, and it squealed in happiness.

"Awww!" the spaceship crew cooed.

"I could just eat you up!" Verge giggled, hugging its head.

"_Flurgle Burgle!" _it was cuddling the Flurgle way too much.

"OK, that's enough eating up," Penn said, picking Verge up by the collar of her shirt, covering up his jealousy. Verge rolled her eyes playfully.

Only Sashi wasn't impressed by the alien. She turned to Penn. "Admiral, we should focus on our mission. Our ship is out of fuel crystals! Our only hope is to go to the planet below and collect more crystals. Or else our ship will burn into the atmosphere."

"How much time do we have?" Penn asked.

"_5 seconds."_

"_What?!" _The quartet braced for cover.

"…_4…3…"_

"This is it!"

"…_2…"_

"Hold on!"

"…_1…"_

_Ding._

A one-eyed crewmember took a bag out of this microwave and handed it over to Penn. "Your popcorn, Admiral."

"Thank you, crewmember," Penn said awkwardly, taking a handful of popcorn. His eyes widened. "Light butter? What's the point?"

Verge rolled her eyes. "We can deal with your butter problem later. On to the mission, guys. We can get to the planet using the particalizer." She turned to the one-eyed crewmember. "That's what it's called, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Nailed it."

"Well, let's go then!" Penn said.

There were four tubes waiting for them. The quartet each got one tube. But as they stepped in, the alien dog had other plans.

"_Flurgle Burgle!"_

"Get out of here, you weird little space pig!" Penn teased. "Papa's gotta go to work."

"I know," Boone said. "And don't call me space pig."

The Flurgle walked over to Verge, who scratched its head again in human size. "Aww, it's all right. We'll be back!"

"Get it out of here!" Sashi commanded.

"It's a free country, Sash," Boone countered.

"Space is not a country!"

"Prepare to particalize," the crewmember in charge of the machine said. He pressed a button and the machine started to whir.

"Beat it!" Sashi shouted, using her space gun to shoot it.

"Sash, stop!" Verge yelled, but it was too late. The Flurgle got hit and started bouncing all over the room. The moment the doors closed, the Flurgle got into Penn's tube.

And then, they started to particalize.

They all seemed to end up on the planet safe and sound. But not everyone arrived the same way they came.

"Not cool, Sash!" Penn's voice said. Verge, Boone, and Sashi looked down and gasped. "Lasers aren't for foolin' around with, unless you're playing laser tag, or giving a presentation, or you're watching a laser show at a concert. You're lucky no one got hurt."

His friends only stared at him and looked at each other nervously.

"What?" Penn looked at his legs. He had eight. He looked into the water, and found he had three eyes. He looked at his body, and found it was small, orange, and sort of scaly. _"Flurgle Burgle! _Oh. This is gonna be a _Flurgle Burgle! _Problem."

"Oh no!" Sashi gasped. "You and the Flurgle must've been combined by the particalizer!"

"Ya think?! _Flurgle Burgle!" _He scratched himself behind the ears and grinned. "Ah! That feels amazing!" He ended up smelling his foot.

Verge couldn't help herself. _"You are so cute!"_ she practically shouted, shrinking to small size and hugging the Flurgle/Penn's head. "Oh my wings, I could just cuddle you all day!"

Penn only blushed. "Um, Verge, I don't think—_Flurgle Burgle! _You're so warm, hug me more!" Verge laughed and nuzzled her little fairy head into the scaly skin.

"How do you find him adorable?" Sashi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't question how I think." Verge scratched Penn behind his ears and he squealed.

"That feels _so _good!" He rolled on his back and Verge scratched him there.

"Flurgle treat?" Boone asked, holding the food.

Penn forced himself to snap back and glared. "No! I don't want a—_Flurgle Burgle! _OK, give me one." As Boone fed him, he groaned. "Oh, I hate that that was delicious! _Flurgle Burgle! _Give me another one!"

"Maybe you should zoop back to the ship," Sashi suggested.

Boone glared. "Maybe you should zoop back to the ship, Sash. You're the one who made our hero a man-space-dog-pig!"

Penn looked at them seriously. "No one's zooping back to the—_Flurgle Burgle, Flurgle Burgle, Flurgle Burgle! _We can figure this—" He then perked up. "Oh, boy. that treat moved through me like lightning! Oh, wherecanIgowherecanIgo, nobody look at me!" He scampered off to some bush, looking sheepish. "Oh, this is embarrassing."

Sashi sighed. "You're the one who brought the Flurgle in the first place!" she countered, pointing at Boone.

He shrugged. "What can I do? He followed me."

"It's no one's fault, all right?" Verge said, as Penn got out of the bush. She started to rub his belly again and he purred. "We need to focus on the mission."

"How can we when Penn's like that?" Boone said.

"I'm sure he can still do stuff in this form! Isn't that right, Flurgle?"

"I'm Penn, Verge!" Penn shouted. _"Flurgle Burgle! _Never mind what my name is, please just scratch me."

Verge giggled. "Who knew you had this kind of side in you, Zero."

Sashi growled. "Verge! I know you're enjoying this, but come on!"

"In a minute. Hey, check that out!"

She pointed to the ground and found a little space bug. Penn's Flurgle eyes lit up and he grinned. "Space bug, space bug, space bug! _Flurgle Burgle!" _He happily started chasing the critter, laughing. Verge flew over to Boone, who seemed to be recording this.

"Watch this!" Penn said. "Hey, watch me! Hey, you're not watching, you're not watching!"

"No, we're watching, buddy!" Boone promised. "You almost caught him that time!"

"Don't encourage him!" Sashi said. "We need to find those crystals!"

Boone wasn't paying attention. "Wook who made a new fwiend, yes you did!"

"Stop fooling around, Boone! Verge, help me out here!"

The fairy was unfortunately trying to keep Flurgle Penn in control. "Hey, hold up!" she called after it.

Boone looked at Sashi blankly. "Oh, no no no no no no. This is _your_ fault! You did this to Penn, and I will not let you take away the only thing that gives him joy."

"That bug is bugging this mission!" Angered, Sashi reached out and killed the bug in her hands. Both Flurgle Penn and Verge gasped.

"Sashi!" the fairy cried out. "Look at what you've done!"

Penn stared in horror at his friend. "Oh, no…" He looked like he was about to start breaking down.

Boone picked both his friends up and looked at Sashi accusingly. "Now look what you did!"

Sashi only glared and rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, more space bugs appeared, gathering around their dead friend. They pushed at his chest and the once-killed bug was revived. Its friends cheered.

"More bugs!" Flurgle Penn cheered as well, jumping out of Boone's hands.

"Oh, no you don't." Verge used her dust to keep him from getting away, the wind blowing so he stayed in place.

"No! Stay!" Boone commanded. "Sorry, bud. I didn't wanna have to do this, but it's for your own good."

Boone reached into his pocket and pulled out a leash and collar. He put the collar around the Flurgle's neck.

Penn struggled and pulled at it. "This collar looks ridiculous! _Flurgle! Burgle! Flurgle Burgle! Flurgle Burgle!" _He tried to get away.

Boone held the leash and gave it to Sashi. "Penn's your responsibility too. Take him for a walk. He's got too much energy."

That only made Sashi mad. "No! We have work to do!" She dropped the leash to the ground, causing Verge to fly over and catch it.

"Space bug, space bug, space bug!"

"Whoa!" Before Verge knew it, she was being dragged by the Flurgle.

"Am I the only one who cares about the mission?!" Sashi demanded.

"_Guys_!" Verge yelled. "Help!" Boone and Sashi turned to see the Flurgle getting away, the fairy holding onto the leash tightly. They quickly ran after.

Verge tried transforming to human size to stop the Flurgle, but it only resulted to her falling on her face. The leash slipped from her hands, and the Flurgle ran off.

As Boone and Sashi helped her up, Boone said, "Ah! How are we gonna win the mission without our hero?"

"I don't know!" Sashi cried out.

"Come on, we can do this without Penn!" Verge insisted.

Suddenly, they heard slow clapping. They turned and gasped when they saw Alien Rippen. "Well, well, well," he said, smiling evilly.

Just as he said that, Larry started beat boxing to his slow clapping. "Love that funky beat you're layin' down!"

Rippen shook his head, annoyed. "Yet another entrance ruined. It was a slow clap to highlight their failure."

"Hang on, let me write this down. Who's got a pen?"

"Can we just get them?!"

Aliens surrounded Boone and Sashi. Verge attempted to fly upwards, but one alien thought of catching her by the wings. "Ow, ow! Easy! Wings are delicate!"

They started directing them to a canyon. Rippen walked before the heroes. "In minutes, your ship will lose power, crash into the atmosphere, and burn up. Thought you'd enjoy a front row seat."

Rippen gestured to a two rows of fold-up chairs, guarded by more alien guards. Larry used these electronic cuffs to restrain them. The alien that caught Verge let go of her wings and cuffed her tiny hands and feet.

"No cage today, huh?" she said blankly. "Gee, thanks, I appreciate it."

"You're welcome."

Boone was confused. "Uh, why are there so many chairs?"

"You can't have a front row seat without a back row!" Larry protested. "That's just basic words!"

Rippen deadpanned. "The boy's right. All we need are three chairs."

"Three chairs is not a row. Three chairs is just three chairs."

"You guys need a minute?" Boone asked.

Verge coughed. "Broooomance."

"Just watch your defeat!" Rippen commanded, turning away. "…Three chairs is a row."

"A sad row," Larry huffed, also turning away.

Verge coughed again. "Awkward." The alien guards seemed to agree.

The three looked up in horror. The ship was starting to burn up already. "We have no time," Verge said sadly. Boone frowned and stared at his hands.

Sashi was just as disappointed. "You were right before. This _is_ my fault."

"I know," Boone agreed. Verge glared and he smiled awkwardly. "But everyone screws up sometimes. Am I right or am I right, Vergie?"

"You bet." The fairy tried for a smile.

"Not me!" Sashi sighed. "Doing this job right, that's my thing! It's my reward! I don't get a congratulations cake."

"Why not?" Boone questioned. "Your parents must be super proud of you."

Sashi sighed again. "They think I work at Fish Stick on a Stick."

Suddenly, Verge laughed out loud. Boone and Sashi stared at her. "…Oh, you were serious? Really?"

"Mm-hmm. It's the sad truth."

"They don't know your job is saving the world?" Boone said. "Like, every day? Like, all the time?"

Sashi just frowned. "You and Penn have part-time hero parents. Verge is a fairy, and practically has no parents at all—"

"Hey. That's a sore subject."

"No offense. But you get the idea. Phyllis said it's better if they don't know."

"Objection! That's a stupid idea!"

Sashi tried smiling. "…They can't be proud of what they don't know. So I have to be proud of myself. And today, I'm not."

Verge frowned. "Sashi…it doesn't have to be this way."

"What do you mean?"

"You may not have your parents being there for you…but your friends are. We're all proud of you. I learned that a long time ago."

Sashi smiled back. "Thank you, Verge. But I sometimes I just wish my parents were as pleased as you guys are."

"That is so tragic," Larry said, who appeared suddenly, and wiped away a tear. "All she wanted was cake!" He kicked away a rock, and it hit the canyon wall.

Something glowed from behind it. "Look!" Verge whispered out. Sashi nodded, noticing.

"Did you see that?" she asked Boone.

"Yeah, Larry's got a pretty powerful leg for being so short."

"No, there are fuel crystals in the wall. We can still save the day!"

"That's the spirit, Sash!" Verge cheered.

However, the happiness was blocked by Rippen. "Actually, no. You've discovered the crystals too late. Penn is gone, the ship's about to burn up, and also, this!" He then pointed a gun at the three. "Any last words?"

"Psst." Sashi looked up at Verge, who raised her eyebrows and nudged at Boone's pocket with her head. She got the signal and smiled.

"Just two." Sashi reached into the boy's pocket and shouted out, "Flurgle, come!"

Her words echoed throughout the canyon. _"Flurgle, come!"_

Rippen was confused. "Huh. That was pointless—" _Flurgle, come! _"That was pointle—" _Flurgle, come! _"…That was pointless. I guess we know now why you're just a sidekick!"

He pulled the trigger.

But just at that moment, something was jumping out from the canyon. _"Flurgle Burgle!" _Flurgle Penn cried as he jumped in front of his friends. The laser hit his collar, causing a reflection, and causing it to bounce all over the canyon walls.

"Oh, come on!" Rippen complained.

Verge, Boone, and Sashi reached out and the laser hit their cuffs, setting them free.

"Not the leg chains too!"

"Yeah!" Verge cried out, flying higher.

"Grab the crystals!" Sashi commanded, the three running for the wall.

Flurgle Penn was biting at Rippen's pant leg. "Off! Now! Bad hero!"

Verge used her dust and collected as many crystals as they needed. As she took them in her arms, Sashi called the ship. "Zoop us, now!"

The heroes started to particalize and disappeared from the planet.

Rippen glared as they disappeared. He heard slow clapping and turned to see a grinning Larry.

"Am I doin' it right?"

Once they arrived at the ship, they heard everyone screaming. Penn, now back in his old body, took the Flurgle off his head.

"Let's move!" Verge called, as they headed for the fuel bank.

They placed all the crystals in it and closed the hatch. The energy level recharged to full. The ship started flying again.

"Yes!" the quartet cheered, doing their group fist bump.

"_Flurgle Burgle!" _the Flurgle squealed.

The four of them then entered the main room, where the crewmembers were waiting. "You saved us, Admiral!" the blonde crewmember said gratefully. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome!" Penn said. But then he turned to Sashi and nudged her. "But the, Lieutenant was the real hero today." Sashi smiled. "Now, what's it gonna take to get some popcorn with extra butter around here?"

Verge flew over to Sashi and grew to human size. "Great job today," she said, grinning.

"Thanks, Verge. For cheering me up back there."

"What are girl best friends for?" They grinned and high-fived.

As Penn got his popcorn reward, Verge decided to have some fun. She walked over and smirked. "So. Enjoy being a space pig?"

Penn rolled his eyes. "You know I didn't."

"Really? It sure seemed like you were having the time of your life as I rubbed your belly."

Penn blushed profusely. "Now, that was the Flurgle talking!"

"Oh, it wasn't all you, is what you're saying?"

"Yeah! I didn't enjoy all that cuddling you were doing to—"

To stop him from talking, Verge reached up and started scratching behind Penn's ears. He gave in and sighed happily. "Oh, yeah, that's good." He suddenly realized what he was doing and shook his head.

Boone and Sashi laughed at him as Verge started tickling his stomach. "Hahaha! OK! Stop! Uncle! Uncle!"

There was the blue flash, and the heroes were zapped back into their world.

* * *

That night, Sashi came home late. She sighed, as she was about to enter her apartment. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

Her parents' voices called out to greet her. "Oh, Sashi's home," her father sang out.

"Hi, sweetie. How was work?" her mother asked.

"Good," Sashi replied.

Her father chuckled. "Must've been better than good, if your friends went through all that trouble!"

Sashi turned and was surprised to see Penn and Boone there, waving to her. And for the first time ever, Verge was flying in her house. Her parents could now see her wings. She smiled widely and walked up to them.

On the table was a cake that looked like the Flurgle. Boone cut her a piece and placed it on a plate. Sashi took it eagerly, but her eyes widened as she swallowed.

"What do you think?" Penn asked.

Sashi hesitated, and forced a smile. "I love it."

"Yeah, right," Verge smirked. "You know, I made a second, sugar-less cake back in the fridge."

"Let's go with that."

Penn and Boone looked up at the fairy, who smirked. They only shrugged, knowing they were both horrible cooks, and the quartet laughed.


	13. My Pet Boy

**Special Episode: My Pet Boy**

* * *

**I felt like I'm copyrighting something as I wrote this. But really, I had no other ideas please spare me u-u Still hope it'll be a good read, 'cause most of the plot **_**is**_** mine. I just hope you'll enjoy this!**

**I'd also like to say that I'm starting to post drawings of the Penn Zero gang on DeviantArt. The first one of them is already up, along with the North Pole Down. Now you can see Verge in her forms! You can check for the link to my (aka my brother's and my -_-) deviant profile on my profile :)**

* * *

Penn was sleeping soundly in his bedroom. He sighed in his sleep, dreaming his dreams, not wanting to be woken up.

Until he felt something tickle his nose.

"Not funny, Verge, I can get up later," Penn called sleepily, eyes still closed. But the tickling still continued. "I said, it's not—"

When he opened his eyes, they widened when he saw a bird on his nose. Penn screamed. The bird screamed. The boy bolted upright and the bird flew off. And then Penn saw that his entire room was occupied by small, baby blue birds. In the midst of it all was his fairy roommate herself.

"Verge!" Penn scolded. "What's all this?"

"'Mornin', Zero," Verge called as she flew around the room. "These lil' chicks were just learning how to fly, so I thought I'd teach 'em."

"In our room? I told you not to bring animals to our room anymore!"

"They were abandoned! I found them in a tree!"

At that moment, a larger, mother blue bird came through the open window and glared down at Penn as if blaming _him _for taking her children. The boy smiled awkwardly. The mother started pecking at his hair.

"Ow! Ow! OK, enough! All birds get out!"

As the mother took her now-able-to-fly children away, Verge still had the smallest one standing in her hand.

"Just a sec!" she said and turned to the bird. "OK, buddy, if you want to be with your family, you gotta learn how to do this. On the count of three, I'll toss you, and you flap as hard as you can. You ready?" The bird chirped nervously. "One…two…three!"

Verge tossed the bird, and it started to flap its little wings really fast. The flapping slowed down, and the hovering became flying. The bird chirped in happiness, as if saying "thank you", and left the room.

Penn quickly closed the window. "You've been doing that all morning?"

The fairy shrugged. "I had to do something."

"Why'd you do it?"

Verge frowned and landed on the floor, shifting her feet uncomfortably. "They looked like they could use the help…"

Penn suddenly groaned. _'Here we go again.' _Verge was playing the "You helped me, so I help others" card. Ever since he found her six years ago, Verge vowed that she would do absolutely anything in her power to help anyone in need. And that was admirable. But sometimes, it would get out of hand. Penn would usually wake to find surprises in his house almost every other day. And Verge always had the same excuse. Some days, it felt like all this was getting a bit old.

But Penn always saw reason.

"I'll let you off the hook this time," he sighed. Verge's eyes lit up. "But no animals again, all right? And you clean up the mess in our room while I'm at school."

"I promise, Zero!" Verge declared, flying up. "No more hanging out with critters!"

"Besides, we can always hang out after school and work."

"You mean it?"

"Sure. I mean, it's not like we have anything to do afterwards…"

"Sounds awesome!" The fairy grinned and proceeded to fly out the door. "Now, get going! I'll make us a breakfast of Choco Choco Choco Trunks!"

The boy had to smile at that as he went and followed her.

* * *

School ended pretty quickly. Shortly after, the quartet met at the Odyssey, ready to go on today's mission.

"Hey, Phyllis!" Penn called from before. "Just wondering out loud here. Are we going anywhere special today? Had enough of today's math test. I could use the action."

"Oh, yes," Phyllis called back distractedly. She wasn't even looking at him. "You'll be going someplace _very_ special."

"I wonder if we're gonna be meeting any animals today," Verge wondered.

Boone chuckled. "Wow, Verge. It's like you can't get enough of them."

"Hey. I'd wish for all of you to be animals if I wanted to."

That certainly made them wonder what was on the fairy's mind.

They got on the MUT platform and Phyllis zapped them in.

* * *

The moment Verge opened her eyes, she gasped at her surroundings. They appeared to be in the living room of a house. But when she glanced at her friends' forms, she pumped her fists in the air. "My wish came true!"

At the moment, Penn was a fluffy orange dog, Sashi was some sort of Siamese cat, and Boone was a chubby pink pig. They were legit _animals_.

Penn barked. "This isn't the kind of mission I had in mind…"

"I can't tell if this is an insult or whatever," Boone said, examining his little pig feet. "But hey, at least I can roll around in my own filth, right Verge?"

"That's both adorable and disgusting," she commented.

Sashi was licking her paw on instinct. "I have no idea what we're doing here, but I don't like it. I have a weird craving for fish and milk now."

"And I feel like I want to chase a mailman," Penn added, scratching his ear with his foot. "Ugh. This is no different from being the Flurgle."

"And I just want to cuddle you all!" Verge cooed, growing to her human size and hugged her friends. "You're so cute! I can't contain this happiness!"

"Hey, hey!" Sashi shouted out. "No touching the cat! They don't like being touched."

"Oh, then I'll pet you then."

"Don't even—!" But Verge was already petting behind Sashi's pointy cat ears. She meowed instantly and purred.

"Well, one thing's for sure, fairies sure are warm," Boone commented, not helping his snuggling.

"Enough, Verge!" Penn cried out, trying to not to blush. "Come on, we're not here to cuddle!"

"You're just saying that to get out of my hugging. But, that's sort of true. We need to know _why_ you're animals so, Sash, check the Specs."

"Hey! That's my line!"

The cat snapped out of her purring. "OK, so our mission is to stop really smart rebel humans that plan to take over the world by developing a weapon that gives humans control and knowledge."

"Wait, that doesn't make any sense. Humans _do_ have control and knowledge, don't they? And what are animals supposed to do about it?"

"I think they actually have the upper hand in this world," Boone said as he stared outside a window.

"Upper hand?" Penn echoed, walking over to him. "What do you me—" He then cut himself off when he took a glance of the city around him.

Humans weren't standing on their legs like a normal person would. Instead, they were walking on all fours, as if they were animals. But animals were walking around on their hind legs and acted like humans. They were talking in English, while the humans had their own animal speech. A little dog actually passed by holding a leash with the collar clasped around a human neck. They dog waved to the quartet and the human barked.

"It's an alternate universe," Sashi gasped, staring at the world.

"Do you know what this means?" Verge asked excitedly.

"Yeah! We can stand on our hind legs!" Boone exclaimed, quickly standing up and striking a pose. "What do you think? This pig could walk the runway?"

"There's no time for that!" Penn said, standing as well. "So we have to find the rebel humans' base."

"If we don't find it in time," Sashi said, continuing to read the Specs. "The weapon could corrupt the humans' minds and have them take over the animals!"

"I'm guessing if this was our normal world, that would be a bad thing?" Verge asked.

"Yes, Verge, having animals take over would be horrible," Penn sighed. "But now we can't let the humans do so. Let's go!" He turned around to find a man walking up to him, a metal bowl grasped in his teeth. He dropped it and let out a little bark.

"Awww," Verge cooed. "That was adorable."

"What? Seriously?" Penn asked, flabbergasted. "You just—You know what, never mind. So apparently, I'm the owner of this human. What do they even eat here if they can't eat meat?"

"Same thing all animals do," Boone replied when he reached into the pantry and brought out a bag of dog food. Penn frowned but he reluctantly refilled the human's bowl. He barked happily and proceeded to eat.

"OK, well, this is awkward. Where's the base anyway?"

"There it is!" Verge cried out, pointing at a building proudly.

Penn walked over and grinned. "Wow! Great job Verge. How'd you find it so quickly?"

In front of them was a really large building. The large billboard sign on it said, "Animal Inc.", but it was crossed out and replaced in giant red letters with an arrow pointing to it, "Human Inc."

"I don't know. Just a lucky guess?"

"We gotta get to that building!" Sashi said. "The weapon must be in there somewhere."

The quartet team then exited the house and looked around. All the animals looked so peaceful with their humans. They had no idea what was about to happen next. "We have to stay hidden," Sashi warned. "Otherwise, the humans will know we're trying to go after them. We need a place to plan."

"Then that seems like the perfect place to hide in!" Boone said, pointing.

The four of them started moving over to an alleyway. It was dark, and they could barely see anything. The only light that shone on them was the dim rays from the sun. "This was probably a bad idea," Boone admitted.

"No, not really," Verge said, smiling. She flew over to the light and placed her hands in it. Concentrating, she used her light magic, and the light grew bigger. At that moment, they saw that the alleyway was already occupied.

Sitting in a box by the wall was a little boy. He had curly brown hair and the most innocent blue eyes. He whimpered when light hit his face and saw the heroes. He retreated back into his box, practically shivering in fear.

"Oh my wings," Verge gasped.

"Yep, bad idea," Sashi said. "Let's move."

"Guys, wait!" The fairy fluttered over to the boy and he shivered more. Verge lifted her hand slowly and he cowered.

But then Verge started petting his fluffy hair. He looked up at Verge, who smiled sweetly. The boy then let out a happy bark and jumped into her arms. The fairy couldn't help but hug it back.

"OK!" Penn cried out suddenly. "Let's get going before you get attached to it!"

"I'm bring him," Verge announced.

"What?" Penn frowned. Oh, how he feared this.

"Come on! Our very own pet human! Wouldn't that be cool?"

"I'm looking more into the term of _wrong._ Very, very, wrong."

"Why not, Zero? He's so cute! Aww, look, he's got your hair style!"

"And your hair color and eyes," Boone added, grinning. Everyone turned to him. He frowned. "OK, yeah, not making things better."

"Whatever, Verge, you're not taking him."

"Zero," Verge said sternly, putting the boy down and bending to face the dog. "Six years ago, I too was helpless, weak, and alone. But then someone took me in. And I made a vow."

Penn groaned. She was playing the card. Again. "Verge, I…" When the boy looked into her eyes, he saw the Verge he met six years ago. He stared into those pure blue eyes, and found himself he couldn't possibly say no.

"All right! Fine, he can go."

"Penn!" Sashi protested.

Verge squealed and quickly turned to small size, hugging her friend. "Thank you, Zero!"

Penn blushed behind his orange fur. "I-It's fine. It's no big deal, I guess."

The fairy grinned and turned to the boy again. He barked and started nuzzling his little face against Verge's small body. She chuckled as she patted his hair. "You are just adorable, yes you are!"

"Penn, are you sure about this?" Sashi asked. "The humans are the enemy!"

"Well, they're not going to be _yet_," Penn replied. "He's not going to do any harm yet. And besides, Verge means well. The boy's gonna be in her hands anyway."

"Is it me or does he severely look like a cross between you and Verge?" Boone mused. Penn and Sashi turned to him. "…Yeah, I really need to shut up."

"I think I'll call you One!" Verge giggled, cuddling the boy. It licked her fairy head.

"What kind of boy has a name 'One'?" Sashi questioned.

Verge shrugged. "Since he looked like Zero, thought I'd name him One!"

"…Not funny, Verge." Penn said. "Let's just get back to the mission, people! Here's the plan: sneak in, find the weapon, destroy."

"That's just too straightforward," Sashi protested.

"Well, it's a plan!" Verge admitted, putting a makeshift vine collar around One. "We can totally get in there unseen!"

The quartet _did_ manage to get past the entrance. It had human guards guarding it, but all Verge had to do was fly them through the open window and they found themselves in the kitchen. However, there weren't any signs of people or animals.

"Just a sudden thought that crossed my mind," Boone said. "How did the animals get in here anyway? I thought this was Animal Inc."

"The humans infiltrated the Animals' base," Sashi explained. "This apparently used to be where the biggest animal entrepreneurs worked, but now it's the humans'."

"Those poor animals," Verge sighed. "We have to give back what's rightfully theirs."

One suddenly barked when he saw something move in the fridge. "What is it, boy?" Verge asked.

Boone suddenly chuckled. "That's funny, 'cause he really is a boy." Everyone turned to him again. "…I swear this is the last time."

"Could it be a human?" Penn asked.

One only continued to bark. Verge neared the fridge and opened it slowly. Inside, there were two chickens. Literally.

"Um…" Penn said awkwardly. "Hello. We've come to save you?"

"Oh, rescuers!" the first one cried out. "I told you they'd come to save us!"

"No, they're traitors!" the second gasped. "They have a human with them!"

The boy only whimpered in fear. "Hey, hey!" Verge said defensively, patting One's head. "He's sensitive, you know."

As they brought the chickens out, Penn asked, "What were you doing in there?"

The first chicken choked. "They were so fast! They've grasped human knowledge so quickly! All the animals couldn't do anything! My sister and I were hiding here, just waiting for someone to save us."

"Like a couple of chickens!" Boone said.

"I'm not even going to look at you," Penn sighed. "You can now escape the building through the window. You have to tell everyone that the humans plan to strike the animals. But my team and I will do our best to stop them!"

"Thank you, brave dog!"

"How will we get them out of here?" Sashi asked.

"Easy, Sashi," Verge said as she grew to human size and took the chickens. "All birds can fly. They can simply fly out of here!"

"Verge, no!" Penn shouted, but she'd already let go. The chickens clucked in terror as they fell.

"…Oh wait. Right. Chickens can't fly. My bad."

"…We're OK!"

Penn facepalmed. "At least they're taken care of. Let's continue."

The five neared the kitchen's exit and hit behind the door as some humans passed by. They appeared to be guards, but they acted more like guard dogs. Once they were gone, Penn suddenly felt One jumping up and down on him.

"Verge, get One under control!"

"Sorry!" she apologized, picking the boy up. "He just likes you!"

"If he really likes me, he'll focus on the mission."

"How are we even going to find the weapon?" Sashi asked.

"We don't really have a choice but to check every room," he declared. "The four of us will split up. Once one of us finds the weapon, we bark/meow/oink quietly. Verge will know it's us and gather us again. Got it?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and they all spread out.

It wasn't really hard to avoid the humans. What was hard was that they had to sneak around and open each door, hoping it would be the secret weapon room. But no matter how secretive or visible the room, they couldn't find it.

Sashi kicked doors down and bust through windows. She scrambled around like a real street cat, as if looking for food. But she couldn't find the weapon.

"Ugh!" she screamed in frustration, kicking one last door down. She was surprised when she found a pig eating out of a mini fridge.

"Boone!"

"Oh, hey, Sash. Did you know the faculty keeps donuts in here? So delicious."

Sashi resisted the urge to facepalm. "We're on duty here!"

"I know, but there's no reason to stop for a snack, right?"

"Yes! There is a reason! The humans could find us!"

"Sashi, look out!"

The moment the girl turned around, she gasped.

Meanwhile, Verge sighed as she grasped One's leash. They found another dead end when Verge opened a closet at the highest floor. "We're never going to be able to find that weapon," she moaned. "We don't even know what it looks like!"

One only barked and nudged his head at her feet. Verge chuckled and bent to rub the boy's hair. "You really remind me of Zero…he was around your age when I first met him…" The little boy whimpered and licked her cheek as he jumped on her. Verge giggled. "You're pretty energetic when you're happy, huh?"

'_Just like Penn was,' _Sometimes these days, the fairy truly felt like she was growing apart from her best friend. Penn's mind was mostly on this part-time job rather than having fun. He would get mad at her when she couldn't take things seriously. It wasn't noticeable, but she did have some fears. She used to have nightmares wherein her friends had left her, and that Penn had decided that it would be so. And that was something Verge never wanted to happen.

She could never forget the day Penn found her. He was the reason she was who she was today. And looking at One now, all she could think of now was that memory.

The fairy then shook her head. There was no use thinking of that now. "Guess we have to continue searching, huh, One?"

In response to that, One started to bark again. He was tugging at the leash, directing his attention to the large door a few meters away. "Quiet down, boy!" Verge whispered, but the boy kept barking.

Suddenly, the vine leash snapped and the boy ran for that door. "One!" Verge gasped, flying after him. The little boy only kept barking as he wiggled his way through the door.

The fairy quickly burst into the room and found that it was really dark in there. But the light from the corridor shone upon them. One was growling at someone. Or something. It looked like what appeared to be some rocket-like ray gun.

"The weapon!" Verge cried as she picked the boy up. "You found it, One!"

But the boy was still growling. Someone else was in the room. Or more like, a lot of someones. Verge felt something poke the back of her neck. From what it felt like, it seemed like the point of a gun.

The lights blinked on, and Verge found that she was surrounded by humans. But they weren't the normal humans like One. These humans knew what they were doing. And they were indeed pointing guns at her.

'_Oh, wings,'_

A human suddenly stepped forward and Verge turned to look at him. It was Rippen, but not actually Rippen. He had white hair, wore a lab coat and gloves, and had a pair of goggles sitting atop his head. He looked like a mad scientist. A scary one, at that. Verge stared at him in horror. He opened his mouth to say something…

And out came a pipsqueak meow. **(Well, if it isn't Penn Zero's fairy.)**

The fairy could only stare as she and One exchanged a glance. "Cat got your tongue, Rip?" Verge joked.

Larry, who wore a similar but younger-looking outfit to Rippen's, let out a lower-pitched meow, as if laughing at Verge's joke. He also started meowing more, as if saying another one of his rants. **(Hey, she made a joke out of you! You know, one time a cat **_**did**_** catch my tongue once, but there's a **_**crazy **_**story behind how **_**that**_** happened—)**

Rippen cut him off with a sharp meow. **(Enough! We have to explain our plan!)**

"Excuse me," Verge piped up. "But I'm right here. And you have to explain your plan to the hero, not the fairy guide."

The villain raised an eyebrow, confused. **(You understand cat?)**

"Yeah, duh. I'm a fairy. I understand all animals. And you're not getting me to lure Zero in here, by the way!"

Rippen let out a meow that sounded like laughter. **(Well, maybe not you. But we still captured his other little sidekicks)**

Verge suddenly whirled around to find her friends standing by the door. "Sashi! Boone!"

"Verge!" Boone cried out.

"You're not getting us to call for Penn!" Sashi growled.

Rippen let out a meow. 'We'll see about that' Verge translated.

"What?" Boone questioned.

Meow! 'She's translating for me, you idiots!'

"Why does she need to translate for you?"

Meow meow! 'I don't need her to! I'm a human speaking in cat here!'

'Then can't you use, like, gestures or something? Didn't think you were so inconsiderate, Rippen.'

Meow. 'I hate this world.'

"Now, that's just cruel."

Rippen decided talking was useless. He forcibly took One out of Verge's hands. "Meow meow meow." **(Let's see if Penn Zero will respond to this) **

Verge was confused, but Rippen suddenly pointed a laser gun at him. One barked and yelped uncontrollably. The fairy's eyes widened.

"_One!"_ she shrieked, lunging forward. But the human guards were blocking her. _"Don't you dare hurt him! Rippen!"_

At that very moment, Verge's scream sounded out through the building. They could almost be heard from the outside. But one thing's for sure, Penn definitely heard them.

"Verge?" Something was wrong. That wasn't supposed to be the signal. His friends must be in trouble.

Without thinking, he headed straight for the direction of Verge's scream. "Verge!"

Once he arrived, he stopped when he first saw his friends. Boone and Sashi were tied up in ropes at a corner. One had a leash around his neck and he struggled to break free from the guard that restrained him. Two human guards held Verge's hands behind her back. Said fairy looked up in horror when she saw her best friend had been lured into the trap.

Rippen let out a sly meow. **(And there's the hero I was looking for)**

Trying his best to not make a remark out of the tone of his meow, Penn glared at his enemy. "Should've known you were behind all this!"

'Don't play dumb, you know it was me,' Verge translated.

Penn suddenly frowned. "What? What are you doing?"

Larry meowed. 'She's acting as our translator!'

"What? Why would you do that? Can't you use a blackboard or something?"

Rippen growled. 'We're not going through this conversation again!'

"What do you want, Rip?"

The villain chuckled. 'Why, I wanted you here, of course. My weapon cannot be completed without a test run.'

"Test run?"

The villain walked over to the weapon and pointed it directly at the hero. He meowed again. **(The gun can do more than just turn humans into regular humans. One blast of this and you'll turn into a completely mindless animal. Shortly afterwards, I'll shoot you with my laser, and you'll be nothing but a pile of dog dust!)**

"No!" Verge yelled.

"What'd he say?" Sashi asked.

"He's going to destroy him!"

"What?!" Penn shrieked. Before he could move, two guards held his paws back and restrained him. He struggled, but Penn couldn't move. One yelped and barked, continuing to struggle.

"I can't look!" Boone cried out, turning his head.

Rippen meowed evilly. **(Just thought your friends would enjoy watching the show)**

At those words, the guards forced the heroes' heads to turn and face Penn. Now they really did have a front view. Rippen laughed evilly at that. The gun was starting up and a beam was starting to form.

**(Say goodbye, Penn Zero!)**

"_Penn!"_

At that very moment, One barked. After one final pull, he was free of the guard's grasp and flung himself at the beam. It hit him right square in the face.

"One!" Verge shouted. Penn stared at the human dog in horror. He wasn't dead, was he?

Of course not. One came right back, shaking from the beam's hit and growled at Rippen.

The villain hissed. **(You fool! There's plenty more where that came from!)**

"Watch out, One!" Sashi called out. The boy took every Animal beam Rippen shot at Penn. It was starting to get annoying.

For Rippen, maybe. It gave Verge enough time for her to use light magic and blind the two guards holding her. She was freed, and quickly ran over to One.

Rippen meowed angrily. **(I've had enough!)** He took the laser gun from Larry and aimed it at the boy.

And right then, Verge scooped One in her arms and aimed his collar at the beam. The laser bounced right off the metal and was now directed for the gun's beampoint.

Naturally, it got destroyed.

Rippen meowed furiously. **(No!) **

The guards fumbled to try and catch the two but even after hit with the Human beam, they couldn't understand what to do. Verge punched the two strong guards that held Penn and kicked them in the faces. They stumbled to the ground and Penn rubbed his wrists. "Wow, thanks,"

"Sorry for bringing you in like this."

"I'm just glad I'm not dead."

One jumped on two guards, knocking them to the ground, and he chewed the ropes that tied Boone and Sashi. They were free before they knew it.

"Awesome!" Boone exclaimed, patting the boy's head. "Thanks, One!"

Rippen was not meowing loudly. **(Get them!)**

A guard that sounded like a cow mooed out. **(We don't understand how to 'get them' sir)**

Rippen growled again. **(Why did I end up with humans with animal brains?!)**

"That's enough getting for today!" This was Verge's chance.

She lifted her hands up and conjured the biggest indoor snowstorm she could manage. She sent it hurling for the villains, and the weapon room started to flood up with snow. Because of their slightly bare clothing, the humans couldn't move. They were literally frozen in place.

At that very moment, a cat and dog in police outfits came in. "Freeze!" they shouted, guns pointing.

"Oh," the cat chuckled. "Looks like you've already done that." Rippen only hiss in frustration.

Verge could only grin as she watched Rippen being taken away. She stopped the villains. They completed the mission. But they couldn't have done it alone…

She then looked down when she heard a bark. One was nuzzling against her leg so she bent down to pat him. He licked her cheek happily.

"Great job today, One!"

"He was actually helpful today," Sashi commented, smiling. "I like this kid."

"I knew he would come through in the end!" Verge cuddled her little fairy head against his hair. "I'm really going to miss you!"

Penn smiled that the boy was able to save them, but he frowned at the way he first acted on One. He didn't like the way Verge treated him, or how she could just randomly take him in like that. But now he saw reason. Now he understood.

He suddenly looked down to see One look up at him with puppy dog eyes. How could he resist that? Chuckling, Penn leaned down and patted his fluffy brown hair.

"Thanks for saving me back there."

One yipped happily and started licking his furry face. The quartet laughed at that.

Penn then looked up to see Verge staring down at him. She quickly shrunk to fairy size and looked at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry I screamed. Maybe then you wouldn't have come and almost died."

"If I didn't come, _you_ guys would've died. Besides, you did save the day in the end."

"Yeah, but—"

"And you brought One along, which actually had him turn out to be helpful afterwards."

"Maybe so, but—"

"Verge. It's over." He held his paw out and gave a toothy grin. Verge stared, confused, but then her eyes lit up and she chuckled.

"You're lucky we actually accomplished this in the end." She lightly bumped her fist against it. Boone and Sashi grinned at them.

There was a flash of blue, and the quartet was zapped back home.

* * *

"So, who's ready for movie night?" Penn grinned as he sat beside Verge on the couch, a bowl of popcorn in his hands.

The fairy took a handful of it and smirked. "You don't have to do this, you know."

"Come on! I promised we'd hang out. And, let's say it's a way to apologize for how I acted."

Verge shrugged innocently, eating the popcorn. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"What? Really? Does that mean we can call off tonight?"

"Shut up and watch the movie with me." Verge threw popcorn at him and Penn jokingly ate it.

The two friends laughed as they watched the night away.

* * *

**Oh, almost forgot! A little shout-out to guest reviewer Lilla! :) I was wondering if I could use your name (or at least an OC?) in that special episode we were talking about? If you don't mind giving a full name, age, hair color, hair style, eye color, and clothes style, that would really help a lot! ^^**


	14. Temple of the Porcelain God

**Episode 11: Temple of the Porcelain God**

* * *

**Omgods I had an awesome dream of Verge and Penn last night xD I'd feel bad if I had to say it all when I know it's not all about her, so I'll just say the brief version. Long story short, it had something to do with an exploding spider, a riddle, Verge not wanting to leave Penn to fall to his death, and a super emotional near-death hug. Oh, and a confession.**

**On with the story! Enjoy!**

* * *

"So, Phyllis. Remind me why I had to call everyone here again?" Verge asked.

"Because!" the mechanic said. "There is something very important that need to show you children."

"What could possibly be so important that you had me call everyone to get here on a Sunday?"

"Top secret information that you do not need to know yet."

The fairy groaned as she transformed to human size and sat down in the cinema seat and rested her head in her hand. Phyllis had asked her to come over that afternoon, just so she could call her friends for a quick gathering. Sundays were the days where she would just have some time to herself in the daylight, flying around and making sure no one bothered her. But now, Phyllis had to interrupt that.

"Besides…why'd you ask _me_ to get them?"

"Fairies fly. Flying makes travel easier."

Verge rolled her eyes. "Well, I _did_ fly, but only bothered to leave them a note."

* * *

_Sashi raised her eyebrow at the paper posted on her closet door. _Meeting at Odyssey. 5pm –V

* * *

_Boone took a bite of his meatloaf and his eyes widened. He reached into his mouth and found a piece of paper. _Meeting at Odyssey. 5pm –V

* * *

_Penn snored as he hugged his teddy bear, opened his eye, and looked to see something taped to his forehead. _Meeting at Odyssey. 5pm –V

* * *

Phyllis shrugged. "Good enough."

Verge heard the door open up and her friends entered the cinema. "Verge?" Penn's voice called. "Vergie? Divergent?"

The fairy raised her hand up. "Over here." As her friends walked up to them, Penn raised an eyebrow.

"So, what's up? Haven't seen you all day. Thought you'd be flying."

"I was."

"Then…"

"I asked her to bring you." Phyllis dropped in on them and Boone yelped back. "Have a seat."

The three turned to Verge for an answer. She just boredly shrugged her shoulders. They took the seats beside her. **(A/N: Just think of four seats beside each other rather than three)**

"Enjoy the show," Phyllis called.

She pressed a button and suddenly a video popped onto the screen like some old film.

* * *

**Everyone was falling off a cliff screaming. Verge was flying after her falling friends, trying to catch up to them. Penn and Boone took hold of each others' hands as they fell. Sashi found herself running across the wall. She quickly jumped to catch hold of a vine, stopping the fall. She caught Penn and Boone on the way. Verge was glad they still lived, but now she had to dust them quick.**

**For a giant, angry toilet was trying to eat them up.**

"**Verge, hurry it up!" Penn called. "Hang on, Sash! Or we're about to get the biggest swirlie in history!"**

* * *

The clip paused and the quartet looked at each other curiously. They had no idea what was going on. Phyllis walked before them.

"Today, we are doing something different," she announced. "I am showing you mission you just completed, to teach you very important lesson."

"Oh, cool, yeah," Penn said quickly. "That sounds great. But, um, I have an important report due tomorrow, so…I gotta…yeah…"

Before he could leave, Phyllis appeared before him. "This report, she is about what?"

"Science! And Life. You know, Home Ec." Phyllis stared blankly. Penn groaned. "Fine. My Science Life Home Ec report can wait!"

Boone raised his hand. "Uh, Miss Phyllis? My mom is making her famous meatloaf tonight. It's made the cover of Beef World mag three times!"

"Your loaf of meat will wait," Phyllis said, jumping onto her platform and playing the film again. "We watch from start!"

The clip rolled again.

* * *

"**Awesome," Verge grinned, staring at her jungle clothes. "I feel so protected from the dangers of nature."**

"**So you admit nature's dangerous?" Boone asked.**

"**Of course! I may love it, but I'm not stupid."**

"**Well, wouldn't want to say that in front of ya," Penn commented. "All righty, Sash! Check the Specs."**

"**Our mission is to return the Sacred Idol to the Temple by sundown or the jungle and everyone in it will be swallowed into the Earth."**

"**Let me see here," Penn said, checking his bag.**

"**Why do you have a purse?" Verge questioned.**

"**It's a **_**man**_** purse, Verge! Know the difference."**

"**So…you admit you use women's accessories."**

"_**Man purse. **_**It's a**_** man purse."**_

"**All right, all right. Whatever you say, Penny."**

**Penn rolled his eyes and took the Idol out of his "man" purse. "All right, Idol. Let's get down to business!"**

"**Looks like a roll of toilet paper," Boone chuckled. "Hope you actually don't get down to business!"**

"**I don't get it," Verge frowned. Boone blinked at her. **

**Sashi rolled her eyes. "Boone, please. It does not look like toilet paper."**

* * *

The clip paused. Penn bolted up from his chair. "OK! Sashi was wrong. It did look like toilet paper. No need to punish all of us!"

"I will not be thrown under the bus!" Sashi shouted. "But I will be ride the bus home."

"Oh, Sashi's leaving? Well, ah, I'm gonna go off to my, ah…doctor's appointment. You know, with my doctor…medicine…guy."

Boone checked his watch. "And _I _could still make the meatloaf carving ceremony in time to sing the meatloaf anthem." He cleared his throat. _"~Oh, say…~"_

Verge looked up at Phyllis, who raised an eyebrow at her. "Hey, you interrupted my scheduled flying. I have nowhere else to be."

Phyllis rolled her eyes and pressed a button. "There is no escape!" A giant claw appeared and brought the three back to their seats. "Keep it up, and I make you watch seven-hours director's cut."

The clip rolled again.

* * *

"**Let's forget about what the Idol looks like and continue on with our mission, huh?" Verge suggested as she transformed to human size and flew above them.**

**Penn put the Idol back in his bag. "Verge is right."**

"**You better close that properly, Zero."**

"**Relax, it should be fine! Anyway, go fly, Verge."**

**The fairy nodded and started to fly her way up into the top of the trees. From there, she could see everything perfectly. "The Temple is just up ahead! If we keep going north, we'll make it!"**

"**All right! Let's go!"**

**And so, they preceded their journey into the forest.**

**The heroes realized that there were many weird things in the jungle that **_**weren't**_** supposed to be there. "What's with all the pipes and gross bathtubs?" Penn questioned. "I guess they worship **_**plumbing**_** here or something?"**

"**Now, that can't be normal…" Verge mused.**

**Suddenly, they heard the sound of tires wheeling up to them. Everyone screamed and ran away. But a jungle buggy cornered them. The lights blinded them and Rippen popped out of it. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "Their Idol's a golden roll of toilet paper! I'll get top dollar for it on the bathroom-themed black market! Throw me the Idol! I throw you the whip!"**

"**Uh, why would I do that?" Penn asked.**

"**It's a quality whip! Trust me, you'll love this whip."**

"**I've seen better whips."**

"**OK, we'll see if you tasted better whips!"**

"**Are you sure that whip's long enough to reach them?" Larry asked.**

"**Larry."**

**"I'm just sayin', we could've gotten the sixteen-footer!"**

**Rippen snapped the whip, but it indeed wasn't long enough to even reach Penn. "Your whip doesn't even reach sixteen feet!" Penn gloated. "Run for it!"**

**As they escaped, Rippen glared and turned the buggy around.**

**The heroes came across a Plumber Bridge. It didn't look safe. But Rippen was on their tails. "Go!" Sashi shouted as they got on the bridge.**

"**Run run run run run run run!" Penn yelled.**

"**Doing the opposite!" Verge shouted, flying over him.**

"**Hang on!" Boone cried out. "It's hard to run in flip flops!"**

"**Boone!" Verge screamed out to him. "Again with the flip flops!"**

"**Excuse me for liking flip flops!"**

**Larry stepped onto the bridge, causing it to unravel and Boone to hang by his foot.**

* * *

"It was Boone's fault," Sashi accused. "He should have worn shoes."

"That flip flops thing became a problem _way back_ before too," Verge added.

"You know flip flops are my thang!" Boone protested. He turned and pointed at the back of his tank top, which said, "FLIP FLOPS ARE MY THANG"

"Back to show!" Phyllis shouted out.

* * *

**Boone was still screaming as he dangled. Penn got one plumber and tied it to a vine. He flung it and it stuck to the rock. Penn swung, saved Boone, and landed on the other side atop each other. The Idol fell out of Penn's bag.**

"**Penn!" Boone scolded. "You didn't tie your man purse shut!" Penn deadpanned at him.**

"**Thanks for the delivery," Rippen said, picking the Idol up and getting back on the buggy. "I'd tip you, but I'm fresh out of small bills!"**

"**I've got some ones!" Larry piped up.**

**Rippen groaned. "Just drive, Larry!"**

**As they drove away, Verge flew over and landed to help the boys up. "Verge, you could've dusted Boone!" Penn cried out.**

"**If I dusted Boone, I couldn't be able to dust Sashi," the fairy smirked.**

**They turned back to the buggy to find the girl underneath it. She managed to take a screw out, causing Rippen's buggy to detach and fall off a cliff. The Idol fell out and Penn jumped for it. **

"**Yeah!" he cheered, tiny fist bumping a now-small Verge and putting the Idol back in his bag. "Now, onto the Temple, with no more unseen dangers!"**

**Oh, he was wrong. The moment he took a step, a brick on the floor sank in, causing a hole to open up and the heroes to fall in it.**

* * *

"Penn's fault," Verge, Boone, and Sashi piped up. Penn frowned in embarrassment.

* * *

**Everyone screamed as they fell. Verge was about to dust them, but they landed in a bathtub. It moved along the railroad tracks like some kind of bathroom roller coaster. Everyone was shouting, especially when Rippen and Larry were right behind them.**

"**We have company!" Boone shouted.**

"**I got this!" Verge conjured snow up to block Rippen's bathtub, but he rolled right through it. She tried vines, but he cut them away. She tried water, but that didn't seem to have any effect at all. The water only ended up splashing on them as they went through a loop.**

"**Really?" Penn shouted.**

* * *

"Verge's fault, Verge's fault!" Penn cried out, pointing.

"At least I was trying to help." Verge said, slapping his head.

* * *

**The quartet came across a split track and had to go through the second one. Rippen's bathtub went through the first. The heroes found them on the upper tracks later.**

"**Whee!" Larry cried out, but Rippen caught him.**

"**Hey, Penn! Think fast!"**

**Rippen threw Larry at his face, and the old man held on. "Should've tied your man purse shut!" he cried, taking the Idol out from it.**

"**Guys, look!" Boone cried out. **

**There was another loop up ahead. Everyone screamed. The heroes hung on tight and Larry fell. He tried grabbing for the Idol but Penn held on tight. Larry fell back into Rippen's bathtub cart unharmed.**

"**How is it you never get hurt?" Rippen questioned.**

"**I see the light!" Verge cried out. Penn grinned, but Rippen was slowly nearing them. **

**He reached out and tried grabbing for the Idol. "Give me that Sacred TP—" He got cut off when his bathtub cart fell into another hole. **

**The heroes grinned, but when they saw the exit, they found it blocked. They shrieked, thinking they'd run into it, but the bathtub cart quickly skidded to a halt. **

"**That worked out well," Penn commented.**

"**Not for long!" Verge called out. Behind them, they heard Rippen and Larry's screaming. She dusted everyone, and pushed them into the entrance in the wall. Rippen and Larry crashed out into the exit.**

"**Don't worry, I'm OK! Rippen's soft body broke my fall!"**

"**Can't some things be private?"**

**But the heroes were too busy screaming down the entrance to hear them. Verge saw the Idol fall out of Penn's bag and tried to get it. She failed.**

"**Zero!"**

"**Verge!"**

**But Penn and Sashi separated with Verge and Boone before they could say anything. "Ugh. Wait, where's the Idol?" Penn asked.**

"**Where're Boone and Verge?" Sashi asked.**

"**Yeah, but where's the Idol?" Penn groaned. "Must've forgotten to shut my man purse again. It's the, it's the little lace, it's just…"**

**Meanwhile, Boone and Verge had fallen in a different route. "Ow!" Verge yelled out when Boone landed on her. It especially hurt while she was still in a small size so she transformed to human. "Boone! Get off!"**

"**Oops. Sorry." As he got off, he looked around. "Where are we?"**

"**Where're Zero and Sashi?"**

"**I don't know, but where are we?"**

**Verge got a bad feeling about this as she bit her lip. She took a lamp off its holder and handed it over to Boone. "Guys!" Boone called as they walked. "If you're looking for us, we're in what looks like a toilet museum! I have no idea what the suggestive donation is."**

**Verge's eyes widened when she found another entrance to something. She flew forward and gasped when they saw something huge. Boone made the fire light brighter, and they could see it was a giant toilet.**

"**Whoa," they chorused.**

"**I'd hate to see the butt this was made for," Boone said.**

"**Was that a joke?"**

"**Probably."**

**Verge then snapped her fingers and a small light appeared in her hand. She flew up to inspect the giant potty. Boone was confused as he climbed it.**

"**You have light powers?"**

"**Well, yeah. I don't tell you everything."**

"**Why haven't you used them before?"**

"**They were never important before." Verge stuck her head in the seat, but not deep enough for her head to reach the water. She could swear she saw a faint light in there…**

"**I wonder if it works," Boone wondered, reaching for the flush.**

**Verge lifted her head. "I probably wouldn't do that if I were you."**

"**Why not?"**

"_**Beware the flush."**_

**A creepy, ominous voice echoed out through the room. The wind rustled, and leaves entered in. Boone and Verge stared.**

"**Probably because of that."**

**Boone shrugged and still reached for it.**

"_**Beware the flush."**_

"**What could that possibly mean?" Boone questioned, still reaching for it.**

"_**I said, beware the flush. And I'm speaking directly to you, Boone. Who is with the fairy named Divergent. Who is about to flush it. I'm saying don't flush it. I'm being very clear about this. Don't flush it."**_

**Boone and Verge exchanged a look. Then he turned and reached for the flush. "Boone, don't—!"**

**He flushed it.**

**Boone waited for something to happen, but found nothing. "See, Verge, this thing's junk."**

"**I wouldn't be so sure!" she gasped, pointing. **

**Glowing yellow eyes appeared on the toilet. It stared down at the two and all they could do was stare back.**

**Before they knew it, Verge was carrying Boone as he shrieked his girl-like scream away from the toilet. They didn't even notice they'd passed by Penn and Sashi.**

"**How can that be his scream?" Penn said, stunned.**

"**Get over here!" Verge threw dust at the both of them, and they started to float. They only started moving when they saw the toilet and started screaming.**

* * *

"Sashi's fault," Penn said.

"Penn's fault," Sashi said.

"Boone's fault," Boone said.

They suddenly heard the sound of tinkling and looked up to see Verge had spelled out the words "Verge's Idiots" out of her floating dust. Everyone looked at her. She smiled innocently and waved it away.

* * *

**The heroes managed to make it out alive. But the rogue toilet was still chasing them. They soon came across a waterfall that Verge recognized immediately. "The Temple's up there!" **

"**Great work!" Penn said. "But we don't have the Idol!"**

**They turned and found the Giant Toilet still chasing them. "I can't dust you!" Verge cried out. "The water might affect it!"**

"**Then let's climb!"**

**The three started to climb. Verge went ahead and flew up, staying away from the waterfall. Once she was on top, she took hold of the vine and started pulling at it. Her friends were almost there.**

**But then the vine had to snap.**

"**No!" As Penn, Boone, and Sashi fell screaming, Verge gasped and quickly tried to fly after them, hoping she could make it.**

* * *

The clip paused. "So," Phyllis said. "Does anyone know yet why you are here?"

"OK," Penn admitted. "I dropped the Idol three times. I was supposed to lead the team. I take full responsibility."

"Wrong! You did lead team. Watch."

* * *

**The clip rolled again to when Sashi was holding onto the vine with dear life. Verge finally caught up to them. She conjured up a great big ball of dust and quickly sprinkled it on Sashi. But before the dust reached Penn, he had a plan.**

"**Guys!" he shouted. "I have a theory, and a gross and crazy solution!" That solution was letting go.**

"**Penn! No!" Sashi shouted.**

"**Zero!" Verge yelled, trying to fly after him. But she couldn't. The water in the Giant Toilet was now spraying everywhere and she couldn't get in. Sashi finally let go of the vine and she and Boone landed on the ground safely. They joined Verge and held out their fists.**

"**Give us back our friend!"**

**It wasn't listening. They suddenly heard a toilet flush and the Giant Toilet looking relieved. The three gasped.**

"_**No!" **_**Verge shrieked.**

"_**Why?!" **_**Boone cried out, breaking down into sobs. The Giant Toilet looked sad.**

**But then they saw the Idol come out. A hand was grasping it tightly. "Penn?!" Sashi cried.**

"**Zero, is that you?" Verge called, a little grossed out.**

**Penn's face appeared, and he grinned. "No wonder this guy was so mad. The Idol was clogging him!"**

**Boone made a face. "But you just opened your eyes in toilet water. So that makes you disgusting."**

**Verge only laughed. "I don't care!" She quickly flew over to her friend who smiled. "I'd hug you, but you're wet, which is going to put a big effect on me."**

"**Heh, it's OK."**

**Sashi then pointed at the sky. The sun was setting. "Guys! We'll never make it in time!"**

"**Yes, we will!" Penn insisted. "Because this potty is trained!"**

**The Giant Toilet went and picked Boone and Sashi up and placed it in his seat. "To the Temple!" It made one giant leap, and Verge grinned as she quickly flew after it.**

**Once they were all up, everyone hopped out. "Thanks, Flushie!" Penn called. The Toilet nodded.**

**Creating a gust of wind, Verge cleansed them from the toilet water droplets and quickly dusted them. They floated in the air and flew up towards the Temple. The entrance was slowly closing. They managed to make it in, but Boone's flip flop got caught at the closing wall.**

"**Boone!" Sashi shouted. "Leave the flip flop!"**

**But the boy wouldn't listen. As soon as he landed in the Temple, he reached back outside and quickly pulled his flip flop back.**

"**I'm not going into a giant bathroom with bare feet!"**

"**OK," Penn announced. "It's Idol time."**

**He brought the Idol out, slowly about to place it in its holder, but Boone stopped him.**

"**Penn! You're putting it in wrong!"**

"**No, no, no, it goes with the paper coming out from the bottom."**

"**That's how an inconsiderate person would do it."**

" '**Out the bottom, for your bottom', that's the saying."**

"**No one says that! You want the paper coming over the top!"**

"**Who cares?!"**

"**Everyone should care about bathroom etiquette!"**

"**What we should care about right now is how you're both acting like complete idiots!" Verge yelled out at them.**

"**The sun's almost down!" Sashi cried. "Just do it, stupids!"**

**The boys were staring at how the girls had just shouted at them at that, but quickly snapped out of it. Penn had no choice but quickly put it in the way Boone wanted it. **

**For a moment, nothing happened. Until a light from the sun shone down on the toilet paper and bounced off into the entire Temple. All the bathroom doors opened up and a green, horrible-smelling gas came gushing out.**

"_**Thanks for the TP," **_**the voice from before called out. **_**"You might want to light a candle."**_

**At that point, everyone felt like barfing.**

* * *

Everyone blinked as the credits rolled. "OK," Penn started. "So, what did we do wrong?"

"Nothing," Phyllis said. "This is best mission ever!"

A party tooter sounded out, and balloons and confetti fell over the heroes' heads. A banner with the words "Best Mission Ever!" hung above them. Verge grinned as she flew downwards and landed by Penn's side.

"You learned lesson, you helped Toilet, very satisfying. Phyllis is very proud." She then placed crowns on each of their four heads. Verge marveled at her own crown and shrunk to her tiny form, examining the now-shrunken crown.

"Awesome! Thanks, Phyll!"

"Do not call me Phyll."

"Phyllis. I meant Phyllis."

"Wow!" Penn grinned, holding up his crown. "These are heavy! What are they, real gold?"

"Of course, Phyllis is not cheap!"

Sashi quickly took her crown off and hugged it. "Thank you! I'll think of you when I melt this down and sell it for cash!"

"Raise your juice boxes! Hooray for Phyllis!" Boone cried.

"Hold that thought," Phyllis said. "Watch."

She rolled another clip, and this time it was one of recent events. "While you watch film, I disguise myself as Boone and sneak out. I eat meatloaf. Then come back here."

Boone glared. "Lower your juice boxes! Down with Phyllis!"

"Wow, Phyllis," Penn said. "That's a lot of trouble to go to for some meatloaf."

"Is very good meatloaf," she smiled and winked.

Boone was pouting. Verge flew over to his shoulder and patted his cheek. "Hey, Boone, if it makes you feel any better, I asked your mom to reserve some meatloaf for me last night. We can share it at school tomorrow."

"Raise your juice boxes again! Hooray for Divergent!"

The fairy chuckled and flew in front of her friends. "Let's get heading home, huh guys?"

"Sure," Penn agreed. "Oh, and uh, I need help with my homework tonight. I was not kidding about that Science Life Home Ec report."

Verge chuckled. "Sure. Not like I have anything else to do."

"Now, hold on, just a moment," Phyllis spoke up.

"What now?" Sashi asked.

"The fairy needs to stay. Must have a word."

"You get home, Zero," Verge told Penn. "I'll follow. See you guys in the morning."

Penn, Boone, and Sashi exchanged curious looks and shrugged. They left the Odyssey without another word.

"What's up, Phyllis?" Verge asked, as they stepped onto Phyllis' mechanic platform.

As she fixed her controls, Phyllis said, "Have been receiving many mixed signals from a certain world. World of magic. Very, strong magic."

Verge's eyes widened. "You…you've been getting signals from Fairy World?"

"Phyllis is doing as asked. Is faint, but might receive word of Fairy World. In time. Definitely not in the near future…"

"I-I don't care!" Verge practically shouted. She found herself grinning like an idiot. "Thank you, Phyllis!"

"Do not thank yet. Signals are very weak. We are not sure."

Verge grinned and gave Phyllis a quick hug. "Still! Thank you, so so much!"

She flew off the platform, did a little loop in the air, and exited the cinema, laughing.

"Finally!" she shouted out into the world. She finally had some evidence that her world was trying to call out.

'_Six years. I've been waiting for six years. I hope the answer comes soon.'_

* * *

**Too bad for her, the answer isn't going to be coming out "soon". u-u Ah, well, see you in the next chapter!**


	15. Defending the Earth

**Episode 12: Defending the Earth**

* * *

**Sorry for not updating in a while, guys! Guess I've lost motivation. Also, I've been busy. Also...you know what, it's not all about me. Hope you enjoy the chap!**

**Remember, reviews are appreciated. Never fails to cheer me up :)**

* * *

"…And so the chameleon looks into the mirror and says…'Hey! Where did I go?"

Penn, Sashi, and Verge all laughed at Boone's joke. "Finally!" the fairy giggled, flying over him. "A joke I can get!"

"Yep! I chose the right one to tell."

"Hey, you should do stand-up, Boone," Penn suggested. "I see you doing a stadium tour! Tens of thousands of fans watching at you and laughing at you every night?"

"Sounds scary," Verge commented. "What do you think, Boone?"

But when they turned to Boone, he had a really horrified expression on his face. "Hello? Boone?" Sashi said, snapping her fingers. No response. "He's not moving."

"Huh," Verge tried moving light in front of his face, but still nothing. "Wow, he's frozen."

"Hang on," Phyllis called, dropping in. She pressed a button and a big gush of water flowed down and over Boone's head. "You're welcome."

Boone shook his head as Verge fast-flew to dry him off. "Uh, sorry, guys. I guess I have a _slight_ fear of public speaking." He laughed nervously.

"You should just picture the audience in their underwear," Penn suggested.

"Why would you need to do that?" Verge frowned. "That's insulting."

"Yeah, but once you see the people looking all weird and ridiculous, you feel fine and all your worries go away!"

"That works?"

"Of course! I do it all the time!"

"_All _the time?"

"Let's not continue."

"I'm pretty sure seeing people in their underwear would freak me out even more," Boone said as they stepped onto the platform.

"Then hopefully this is not Underwear World," Phyllis said, zapping them in.

* * *

Verge opened her eyes and stared down at herself. Looks like she didn't change today. But she raised an eyebrow when she saw Boone.

"Look! I'm a girl! Hey, Penn! Don't fall in love with me~"

"Boone, what the dust." Verge said blankly as she grew to human size.

"That's a Supreme Court Justice's robe!" Sashi protested.

"I'm President!" Penn exclaimed, sighing. "How cool is that?" His eyes lit up as he reached for the phone. "Ooh! I'm gonna prank call China!"

"You can't do that, sir."

"Invite the French President over for game night?"

"Negative."

"…Can I make homework illegal?"

"No."

"Can I at least order a pizza?"

Sashi put the phone down. "You sign bills from the legislative branch of the law."

"Well, that's no fun," Verge commented.

"Law and order isn't all fun and games, Verge."

"You said something like that before."

Penn just sighed. "OK, it's a pretty nice pen, I guess."

"Hey! You can call it Zero!"

"What? What are you talking ab—Oh! Oh! Wow, Verge made a joke."

Boone laughed. "Pen Zero. So original, nice." Verge grinned proudly.

Penn then started to click his pen repeatedly. Everyone looked at each other. That's when Penn realized they were waiting for his cue.

"Check the Specs, Sash."

"All right, the good news is, our mission _isn't_ to pass a bill. The bad news is, we're here to stop an—"

She then got interrupted by the sound of the roof being opened above them. _"Alien attack!"_

Everyone gasped when they saw countless aliens flying out of their UFOs and started invading the White House. The leader, who was apparently Alien Rippen flew forward.

"Seize them!" he commanded.

An alien shot a laser beam at the heroes. They quickly ducked behind the President's desk.

"Aliens have a weakness!" Penn said. "We just need to find out what it is!"

"OK," Verge said, nodding. "We can do this. Nature magic, activate!"

The four then got to experimenting. "It's not water!" Sashi said, spraying the liquid.

"They're not allergic to pollen!" Verge confirmed, growing flowers and spreading it around.

"It's not sunlight!" Boone called, after he'd pulled back to curtains.

"That's vampires," Penn corrected. He started playing a tune on the guitar but they just shot a laser at the neck. "It's not country music."

Verge created a big gust of wind to enter the room. "Not wind or sandstorms!"

"It's not garlic!" Boone shouted, feeding some to an alien.

"Vampires," Penn said again, giving an alien a wedgie. "Please concentrate. Thank you."

"Enough!" Rippen said, using a field to catch the four. He then went to contact his ship. "First officer: set the laser to destroy planet!"

"If you wish, my Lord."

"Because of your failure," Rippen sneered. "All humans will have their brains melted and turned into meatloaf."

"Won't the melting ruin the meatloaf?" Penn questioned, hoping to stall.

"Brilliant, Mr. President… And do you have anything to add, Madam General?"

"If you had a skull, I'd crush it!" Sashi snapped.

"Hm. The little fairy?"

"Don't hurt the animals," Verge piped up quickly. Her friends turned and looked at her. "I'm just saying! If he's destroying the humans, no reason he should destroy animals too!"

"Unfortunately, I _will_ be destroying both humans _and _animals."

"_You monster!"_

"Does the Supreme Court Chief Justice have any last words?"

Boone sweatdropped nervously. "Uh…I object?"

Suddenly, there was another sound and another laser beam flashing down on them. The heroes and the villains found themselves being lifted up into a giant spaceship that was bigger than all of the aliens' UFOs combined.

"What's going on, what is this?" Penn questioned.

"I don't know," Rippen admitted. "This isn't me."

They entered the ship, surprised to find darkness. The heroes and villains were divided into two platforms. Sashi got into battle stance. Everyone looked around, wondering where they were.

When the lights went on, they heard screaming. They appeared to be in some sort of stadium. Aliens from every planet were cheering for them. A giant flying billboard flashing the words "APPLAUSE" was held up. The quartet looked at each other, confused.

"_Welcome to Outer Space Court Live!"_ an introduction voice called out. The billboard was now showing different scenes. _"Where we settle life or death inter-galactic disputes but don't forget about the fun!" _

The camera was directed at Alien Rippen and the voice continued to introduce. _"In today's episode in the Plaintiff, Alien General Ugthar the Ugly, wants to blow up Earth!"_

"No, that can't be my name," Rippen protested.

"_But the defendant, the Supreme Court Justice of the United States, objects." _The audience gasped. _"It's up to him to makes his case for why Earth should exist!"_

Boone was freaking out now. There were so many people. His fears were acting up, and he was stuttering horribly. _"So! It's time to…Make. Your. Case!"_

The boy felt – and saw – the camera being directed at him. He was stammering now. Verge quickly flew over to his shoulder. "Hey," she said soothingly. "It's going to be fine, Boone."

"She's right," Penn said, patting his back. "Stay calm, relax. I'm sure not that many people watch this show."

"_We use our audience of billions to decide the winner. Just text your vote for your favorite!" _The billboard then showed a meter with one single arrow in the middle, showing that the votes would be based on which way the arrow would point to.

"OK, I know billions sounds like a lot, but…nope, no, there's no way to spin that. That's a lot."

"Nice comforting skills," Verge said sarcastically. Penn sighed.

"_Other guests include Jorlanx from the Bilnarian Zoo, as always, Vick the Destroyer and his funshine minions of doom, and humorist Bruce Vilnach."_

"_Help me," _the man in the container cried as eels zapped him. The audience laughed.

"_Put your flippers together for our judge and host, Blort Clooney!"_

A giant green alien on a floating platform floated down to the center of the stadium, grinning as he waved and gave high-fives at the audience. "Hello! Thank you, thank you!" he greeted cheerfully. He started dancing as he got on his judge's platform. "How do you like that? Yeah? Check that out? I've been working on this one. Oh yeah!"

The audience cheered. The music then stopped playing and the host turned to the band's lead member. "Vick, did you have a crazy weekend? I couldn't help but notice you're missing your left flipper!"

"Yeah, bumped into a sand slug this weekend. He bit it right off!" The crowd "awwwed" So did Verge. Penn quickly nudged her.

"Ugh, that's gross, don't need all the details!" He chuckled. "Let's meet our contestants, 'cause, _what time is it?!"_

"_Time. For. Opening. Statements!" _the audience cheered.

Boone and Rippen both got floated onto the contestants' platform and Blort went over to them. "All right, who has a reason to blow up _or_ not blow up Earth?"

Rippen quickly called his ship. "First officer! Blow up the Earth! Fire! Fire, fire!" The quartet team gasped at that.

But Blort Clooney's judging hammer lit up and stopped Rippen's aliens from following him. "Ooh! Nice try, but we won't allow you to destroy the Earth unless you win the trial."

The contestants looked upwards. Boone got a nervous look. "Penn, Verge, Boone's gonna freeze up again," Sashi warned.

"You're right," Penn sighed

"What are we gonna do?" Verge asked worriedly.

"There's only one solution."

Penn jumped onto the nearby cameraman, tilting his camera. Sashi jumped as well and clung to him.

"That's a horrible solution!" Verge panicked, quickly dusting them.

"You're up, Chief Justice!" Blort said. "Tell us why General Ugly shouldn't blow up planet Earth!"

Boone could only take deep breaths of nervousness. The audience was still cheering.

"Boone!" Penn called, now flying. "Picture them in their underwear! Underwear!"

"Even though it might not be helpful!" Verge added.

Boone took a deep breath and pressed his buzzer. "Earth is…round? I think? Is it round?! Or is it more of a hexagon?"

"Wrong!" Blort chuckled. "It's round!" The arrow on the voting meter went all the way to General Ugly's side.

"I object!" Penn shouted.

"Me too!" Sashi added.

"Me three?" Verge said, confused. "Is the Earth really round? I don't really know."

The audience gasped. "Ooh!" the host said. "Only the Chief Justice can object! You know what that means!"

"No, we don't," Verge said bluntly.

"_You. Are. Out. Of. Order!"_

The three were suddenly transported to a platform that had a protective fence around it. Verge flying off, but there was a protective field to go with it too. "Today's punishment is brought to us by everyone's favorite animal wrangler, Jorlanx!" Blort exclaimed.

Said alien appeared right in, floating on a platform. The audience cheered for him. "Welcome back to court, Jorlanx," the host greeted. "How's your wife?"

"I ate her."

"Single, huh?" Blort laughed and so did the audience. "Watch out ladies! Literally." He then whispered to the camera, "He's super, super dangerous. If this is my last show, tell my kids I love them. Now, what have you brought us to punish the humans?"

"This here's a baby Huburian Quirm." The wrangler then brought the cutest little green baby alien out of his pocket and the audience "awwwwed" again.

"So cute!" Verge squealed as the alien was tossed over to their platform.

Penn knelt down and picked the alien up. "This is a punishment? What, it's gonna cute us to death? Boone, you need to—" He then got cut off when the alien suddenly slapped him. "Ow! Hey, you look—!"

The alien kept slapping and the audience kept laughing. "That's not funny!" Penn shouted, but the alien only slapped him even more. Rippen laughed as it ended up on Penn's head. "Get it off! Get it off me!"

Sashi managed to get it off, but then it started slapping her. "I got this!" Verge flew and got the alien off, cradling it. "That's enough punishing—" But even Verge couldn't tame the alien with her animal comforting.

"Hey, you get off her—" Penn started, taking it, but the cycle only repeated.

Blort hammered his mallet down repeatedly. "Now, it's time for _Lightning Round: Extreme Edition! _Spin the Testimony Wheel of Doom! And make your case for Earth!"

The contestants' platform suddenly split and a wheel came in between them. Rippen went first. _"Pogo stick!"_

Someone handed Rippen a pogo stick and brought him to another platform. Rippen started talking as he jumped on the pogo stick and hopped for his life. "There are almost too many reasons to blow up Earth! For one, I hate potholes!"

"Your turn, Chief Justice!"

Boone spun the wheel. _"Boulder!"_

Someone brought Boone to a different platform and he shrieked as he ran from the boulder that continuously spun around and chased him in a circle. "Help! Somebody save me from this boulder and my fear of public speaking!"

The alien continued to slap Penn, Sashi, and Verge. They tried throwing it off the platform, but it only ended up landing back with them.

"_Doors!"_

"And hold music they play when they're on the phone! I mean, come on!" Giant tentacles appeared out of the door Rippen picked and got him. A giant monster head spit him out after at the third door. The voting meter went more to Boone's side after that.

"_Giant monster!"_

"I don't wanna be Chief Justice anymore!" Boone shrieked as he ran away from the Death Eater. It only roared at him. The level then went back to Rippen's side.

Blort Clooney was laughing. Penn, Sashi, and Verge were still getting slapped by that alien. Suddenly, there was a gong sound.

Blort lit up. "What does that gong mean?!"

"_Time. To. Roll. The Dice. Of. Closing. Legal. Arguments. That. Augment. But. Don't. Take. The. Place. Of. Statements. Previously. Argued. In. These. Proceedings!" _

"That is one long title," Verge commented before she got slapped again.

Blort first handed the big blue dice to Rippen. He rolled it, and it almost landed on the "Instant Win" side. "Ha!" he shouted in victory.

But then it tipped over and landed on the, _"Deadly. Obstacle. Course!"_

"Oh, so close!" Blort cried out. "Tough break, General Ugly. But now it's time to give your closing statement as you run for your life!"

Rippen was then placed onto a different platform with many dangers in it. He started running while talking all over again. "Earth should be blown up because it's full of people who talk to loud on their cellphones in restaurants. I rest my _case!" _The audience laughed as he fell off the course and into water.

"Chief Justice!" Blort handed him the dice.

Boone tossed it over his head and got, _"Interpretive Dance!"_

"Someone's gonna get down and funky!" the host laughed. "And remember, an audience of billions is watching! Billions!"

Verge looked up in horror to see Boone's face freezing up into an expression of dread and fear. "Boone!" Penn yelled as the alien slapped. "Under—" Slap. "Wear! Underwear!" Slap.

The fairy pulled the alien right off and held it over. "We can't afford to be picky at this point!" The alien slapped her. "Will you stop that?!" Slap.

Boone frowned and gritted his teeth. He stared at Blort and then down to his pants. The three prepared to fight the alien again, but it just slapped them again. "This is getting old!" Verge yelled, flying back up. "Zero, you take the tongue. Sash, take the legs. I'm ripping the arms apart!"

"Wow," Sashi commented. "Not something to expect from Verge."

"I don't tell you everything!"

They did as she said. They managed to take hold of the alien, which took a while. They were stretching at the alien, and Verge raised her fist up to punch it. But it slapped her to the ground before she could.

"This Huburian Quirm is so annoying!"

"Maybe you're right talking underwear." Boone said.

Everyone paused to stare at Boone. What he said was confusing, but he looked different now. "Hey, could I have a bathroom break?" Bruce called out before getting zapped again.

Boone cleared his throat, and started breaking into a dance. While speaking.

"Why should Earth exist? What does it for me are humanity's, you know, like, stunning achievements, architecture, literature, art, and stuff. A-A-And you'd be stupid to forget about our expanding understanding of math, engineering, and science." His friends grinned at him as the alien slapped Penn one last time. A group of aliens started joining Boone as back-up dancers. "It's like I always say to my mom: why are we here? It is totally our quest for that very answer that justifies our existence!"

There was silence. Boone's dance and speech ended. Boone stood, thinking they'd hated it. But then there came the applause. The audience was clapping and cheering for him. They loved it. The voting meter moved all the way to Boone's side. "That's his case?" Bruce questioned. "And I thought I was all wet." He then got shocked again.

"What do you know?" Verge scoffed, smiling at Penn. "Imagining people in their underwear actually worked."

"Told you!" Penn said proudly. "It never fails. I do it all the time!" At that, he found himself staring at her.

Verge used her punch, which was meant for that slapping alien, on him and he fell to the floor. Sashi stared at the fairy. "I'm having a really bad day."

Blort was tearing up a bit. "Ah, well, I have never been so moved. It's clear who our winner is! But it isn't official until I bang the Gavel of Power! I find for the Supreme—"

He was cut off when a piece of the contestant's platform was thrown at him. The gavel fell out and landed in Rippen's hand. "The Gavel of Power is mine!" he declared.

Verge gasped. "Alien! Stretch! Now!" Her nodded and they did as said.

"So I'm finding in favor of myself!" Rippen called his ship once more. "First officer, when I bang the gavel, blow up Earth!"

"Hey, Ugly!" Penn shouted out. "I have a surprise witness!"

"Release!" Verge yelled, and the baby alien was let go.

It hit Rippen in the face, causing him to let go of the Gavel and land in Boone's hand. "Yeah!" he exclaimed. "And I sentence General Ugly to float in space forever!" He slammed the hammer down.

"I am—" Rippen was cut off when the baby alien slapped him. "Stop it! No!" he was placed in a container, and they released him into the universe.

Everyone laughed as Rippen disappeared. "All right!" Penn cheered. He high-fived Sashi and tiny fist-bumped Verge.

Boone handed the Gavel back to Blort. He grinned. "Thank, you, Chief Justice!" He then started reading from cue cards. "Thank you everybody, you've been a fantastic audience! And I'll see you next week!"

As the credits rolled, Boone finally reunited with his friends. "Way to go, Boone!" Sashi cried out.

Verge flew over and rubbed his gray hair. "You're the Wiseman, all right!"

"Aw, thanks guys," Boone grinned.

"How did you overcome your fear?" Penn asked.

"When I have friends like you guys, what do I have to be afraid of?"

"Awww," Verge sighed happily, gathering her friends in her arms. "Group hug!" The quartet smiled.

"Bye, everybody!" the cast waved at the camera and the audience.

"Help me, now, please!" Bruce cried out.

* * *

Back at their home, Verge exited the bathroom and entered the bedroom, rubbing her cheek in pain. "That Huburian Quirm really knew how to slap," she complained.

Penn sighed, rubbing his own face and body. "I think I broke something somewhere…"

"Ugh, he really hit my face. I won't be able to feel it for weeks!"

The boy's eyes widened slightly as he sheepishly walked closer. "Here," He then leaned forward and placed a light kiss on her hurt cheek. "Better?"

It was hard to tell if the cheek was red from pain or a blush. "Thanks." Verge grinned at her friend. "Much better."

* * *

**Sometimes I feel like I'm competing with something in this...**


	16. Number One, Number Two

**Episode 13: Number One, Number Two**

* * *

**I gotta admit, this was really complicated to write since I had to get all the details right. But it's a chapter in which I mostly put in my own ideas in this entire story so I enjoyed this uvu**

**Reviews are very much appreciated. Please and thank you :)**

* * *

In a giant spaceship, a certain battle was being held. A battle between a hero and a villain. Both were sworn enemies to each other. Unfortunately, the villain was winning.

"The galaxy is finished, boy," Rippen declared, hovering over Penn on a platform. "You might not be a real hero…" He brought out his rocket guns and aimed them at him. "…but you're going to perish like one." Penn could only stare as the rockets prepared to launch.

Suddenly, something started to drop in on them. A smiling Larry appeared. "Say hello to Jetpack Larry!"

But Larry landed at the edge of Rippen's platform, causing it to teeter. Rippen's aim was pointed upwards, and the rockets hit the wall. That caused the entire ship to collapse.

"_Larry!"_

At that moment, Verge had quickly dusted Penn and took hold of him by the arms and quickly flew him over to an escape pod. He was confused, but he lit up when Sashi and Boone were in it, and they were flying away from the explosion. He laughed as he fist-bumped with them.

"That was awesome!" he exclaimed, tiny fist-bumping with Verge.

"And close," Verge sighed. "Luckily, the mission's over."

"Quadruple fist bump!"

* * *

After everyone got zapped back, Verge spent the night drawing. She loved to draw. But it was more of a secret hobby she never told anyone. Not even her friends. She now sat on the house's roof as she drew today's forms in her sketchpad. She was so zoned into the paper that she didn't notice someone else was there.

"Hey, is that us?"

Verge whirled around, yelping a bit as she slammed her pad into the person's face. _"Ow! _Verge!"

"Zero?" The fairy's eyes widened as she looked at her friend. She sighed in relief but then glared. "What are you doing up here?"

"I could ask you the same thing!" Penn said, rubbing his slapped forehead. "What are you doing on the roof?"

"…Stuff."

"What stuff?"

"…Fairy stuff?"

"You were drawing, right?" He smiled as he reached for the pad.

Verge quickly yanked it away. "No, I wasn't!"

"Come on, show me!"

"Zero!"

Too late, he grabbed the sketchpad right out of her hand. Verge tried grabbing it back, but Penn pushed her hand away. He scanned the sketchpads pages, and saw that most of them contained detailed drawings of the different forms of the different dimensions the quartet team went through. Page after page, the drawings each got better.

"Oh, I knew this would come out someday," Verge sighed.

"Verge, this is awesome!" Penn exclaimed. "How long have you been drawing?"

"Oh, well, I came here on a Friday…give or take…six years?"

"What? You never told us you could draw?"

"I believe we've been through this before. I don't tell you everything."

"So, why didn't you tell us again?"

The fairy only shrugged. "I don't really know. There was never any reason to tell. Plus, it was nice to have a secret nobody knew for once." Penn stared at her with a raised eyebrow, wondering if she was even being serious. "What?"

"…Nothing. I'm guessing you don't want me to tell the others about this 'secret.'"

"Yes please. I'll tell them myself when I feel like it."

"I promise your 'secret' is safe with me. But seriously, though, this is cool! Your drawing could totally be useful in our missions!"

"Really, Zero. When would _drawing_ ever be useful?"

Penn hesitated. "What if, we end up in a dimension where everything is made out of paper?"

That actually made Verge laugh as she took the sketchpad back. "Yeah, sure. Then maybe we can erase him to his usual failure."

Penn laughed as well. "Maybe tomorrow might not have erasing, but you're right about the usually failing part."

"I sorta feel bad about that, though. Ol' Rip must want to win for once."

"The only time he'll win against us is when pigs fly!"

"Don't say that. Remember, I actually did that once."

"Let's just get to sleep now."

* * *

The next morning, as the heroes stepped onto the MUT platform, Penn grinned at his friends. "'Kay, guys! Let's all win this thing like we usually do all smooth and safe. Make sure we all come back in one piece."

Boone suddenly hesitated. "Something tells me that there's gonna be something wrong with this mission…"

Penn, Sashi, and Verge exchanged a glance, a bit worried. "Boone, you OK?" Penn asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You're usually not this hesitant," Sashi remarked.

"Is it wrong not to say what's on my mind?"

"No," Verge said, flying above him. "I'm sure whatever you're thinking would be important."

As soon as she said that, Phyllis pressed a button and zapped them in.

* * *

Penn, Verge, and Sashi first found themselves in darkness. They pushed green curtains back to see that they were on a stage. Verge looked down at her clothes and found herself wearing a short blue and red medieval dress. She rubbed her forehead to find yet another silver circlet on her head.

"Yet another world in which I hate the clothes I'm wearing…"

"Look on the bright side," Penn said, looking up and down. "At least this is a world you can relate with?"

"Just how is medieval relating to me?"

To save Penn from answering that, Sashi checked the Specs. "OK! We're a theatre troupe. Penn's an actor, I'm a set decorator, and Boone's a…playwright?"

"Finally! A role fit for a Boone!" A platform rose in the stage and Boone appeared on it, looking like Shakespeare. "Pulleth mine finger!"

"Why would we?" Verge asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know what, I don't know…"

Sashi rolled her eyes. "The townspeople are in debt. Crossbow has stolen their gold. If we don't get it back by midnight, they lose their homes."

Verge opened her mouth to say something encouraging when a newspaper boy started shouting. "Extra, extra! Read all about it! Crossbow sets sights on new Number Two! Tryouts in the forest today!"

"Sounds like the Ol' Rip plans on replacing Larry," Verge commented. "Poor guy."

"But this is good, Verge!" Penn exclaimed. "Crossbow won't tell _us_ where the gold is, but I bet he'll tell his new Number Two!"

"Then we should go talk to that guy!" Boone said.

"No, Boone, I—Me! I meant me! I'll disguise myself and become his new Number Two!" He suddenly started to change his accent. "'Twas the role I was born to play!" His friends stared at him. "Ah, no. Was that too Australian, or…"

Verge sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "This might not work out."

"We have to try, Verge," Sashi said. "But if we're going to do this, he needs a good disguise."

Verge nodded, examining Penn. "You need something simple. Something that will be easy to remove whenever you need to. Something that screams 'Number Two'."

The fairy looked around the stage and lit up when she saw a chest at the back of the stage. She flew to it and rummaged through its contents until she brought out a black mask. Flying back to Penn, she tucked his orange hair under it and tied. Penn grinned as he touched the top of his head.

"Thanks, Vergie. Well, I guess I'm off now!"

"Don't let them catch you," Sashi warned. "Make sure that mask is secured."

"Got it."

"If you're in trouble, give a yell," Verge added.

Penn nodded, smiled, and headed for the forest.

"So what should the three of us do in the meantime?" Boone questioned.

"We should probably try looking for the gold ourselves," Sashi said. "But where would be the first place to look?"

"Hmmm…" Verge hesitated as she transformed to human size. "The first place to look would probably be in the forest. It makes sense, since that's where he's holding his tryouts."

"Then we should look there!" Boone exclaimed.

"Hold on," Sashi rubbed her chin in thought. "If he's going to be in the forest, then we should be prepared."

"As in, like, a sneak attack?"

Sashi smirked. "Verge, you get what I'm saying here?"

The fairy hesitated, slowly smiling wider at the thought. "I'm thinking an entire scene change. A whole set drop, just to catch Rippen by surprise."

"We'll start now, then!" Boone said excitedly. "I'll gather the actors and set the stage!"

"I can work on the set drop," Sashi offered. "After all, that's what my job's supposed to be."

"You'll need help, Sash," Verge said. "I'd be glad to give away some of my ideas."

"Awesome."

Boone grinned. "Allrighty then! Catch you guys later!" He then left to prepare.

"So, Verge," Sashi said, smiling at her friend. "Want to work on the backdrop?"

"Sounds like a plan!"

The two of them went backstage and Verge gathered a large, plain curtain. She spread it across the ground and Sashi examined it.

"Yep! That's big enough to cover for a backdrop."

Verge grinned and laid out some art materials. "OK, then! It's gonna take a while to make this look realistic."

"My only worry is how we're gonna be able to do that in time."

The fairy placed a hand over her heart and grinned determinedly. "Leave it to me, Sash! You go ahead and find some twigs and stuff to make trees and bushes. I can finish the entire thing before you come back!"

Sashi's eyes widened slightly and she frowned. "Are you sure, Verge? This takes a lot to do."

"Don't worry! I swear I can do this myself. You got prepare the rest of the props."

The girl was still hesitant, but she sighed. "If you know what you're doing…I'll meet up with you a little while later." Verge waved as she walked off.

"Time to get to work." Now Verge could work on the backdrop secretly.

She started envisioning the entire background and what could possibly happen once Penn found the treasure. She painted the night sky, complete with the full moon and stars. Then she started painting mountains and trees. It took about an hour, but she was able to get it done just in time. Flying upwards, Verge stared in awe at her creation.

"Looks good."

"Wow, Verge!" Sashi gasped, once she saw the new backdrop. "This is amazing! It looks so real!"

The fairy smiled and shrugged. "Aww, thanks, Sash. 'Appreciate it."

"But wait. How did you do it so fast?"

"Ah, well! It was pretty easy. I think. So, I'm done here, need any help with the props?"

"I finished the bushes and some of the trees. I still need to collect more twigs and gather up some animals though."

"Sure, I can help with that."

The two girls left the backstage and proceeding picking up sticks and leaves in the forest. Verge talked to some birds and squirrels, and they agreed to meet up with her at the back of the stage. Once Verge had enough sticks, she met up with Sashi again.

"This should be enough for more trees," she agreed. "We also need bushes to place the birds and squirrels."

"Hey guys!" Boone called out from afar. He was holding up a scroll. "I have the set plan for later!"

"Awesome!" Verge said as they walked over to him. But just then, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. "Guys. It's Rippen and Penn!"

"Quick, act like we're not planning anything!" Boone panicked as he rolled the scroll back up.

"We've got you surrounded!" Rippen called out from a megaphone. "Surrender or perish!"

Verge handed Sashi a megaphone and she shouted back, _"You _surrender or perish!"

"I'm sorry, my lady, but I do not banter with sidekicks. Only heroes!"

"How is Penn gonna get over here?" Boone asked.

Verge tried catching Penn's attention and pointed over to a vine on a tree. Penn understood immediately and quickly swung on it. He hit the tree trying to get over to the other side. "Ow!" He then bumped into another tree screamed as he fell down from it.

"Wow," the fairy said blankly. "Quite an entrance."

Penn sighed as he took his mask off and faced Rippen. "OK! You surrender, or…whatever the second option was!"

"You gotta get back over there," Sashi said.

"Use the vine. Hurry!" Verge cried as Penn climbed again.

"Word of advice," Boone told him. "Don't hit the tree this time."

"Wait, what did you say?" He hit the tree.

Once he was on the other side, he started talking right back at them. "Surrender, or…ooh, we'll feed you to the crows! I believe that's a thing!"

As Penn swung back over and fell again, he panted. "Oh, yeah? Where are you gonna get the crows? Oh, I know! Your men. 'Cause they're all a bunch of square crows!" His friends raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief.

"He gets one chance to talk to himself and this is how he does it," Verge said blankly.

"Well, they mother is a square crow!" he shouted on the other side.

"Hey, don't you talk about thy mother! I mean, my mother!"

"This is getting old," Sashi agreed.

"Zero, your mask!" Verge whisper-yelled. But it was too late. Penn already swung across to the other side without it.

"Oh, it's Penn Zero! Get him!"

Boone, Sashi, and Verge gasped when the villains chased Penn. "We can't help him now!" Sashi said. "We have to continue making the set!"

"Wait, Verge," Boone said. "I need help transferring the stage platform into the forest. Also, the backdrop needs to be hung up already. Think you can manage?"

Verge hesitated. "I guess I can do that. Sash, you got the animals?"

"Uh, yeah, sure I guess."

"Great. Let's go, Boone."

As the three separated again, Boone led Verge over to a small platform. Verge dusted it, and Boone led her to the forest. There was a large hole in it, which acted like a switching stage. There were workers in there, mounting Sashi's trees to the floor. Verge placed the platform in it, adjusted some mechanics, and Boone tested it out. The platform was quickly exchanged with the grass on the ground.

"Awesome," he grinned, high-fiving Verge. "When Rippen comes in, he'll have no idea this whole thing was fake."

"This is amazing, Boone!" Verge complimented, looking upwards at the hanging hooks above and the built floor. "It looks just like a really large stage!"

"I know right? It was hard to find good construction workers for it! Speaking of construction, you ready for the backdrop?"

"It was ready just an hour ago, my friend," Verge smiled proudly. "Wait here, I'll go get Sashi too."

Verge went back to the other stage and went behind it. She spoke up, ready to inform Sashi, but stopped herself.

The birds and squirrels were all over the place. They were scurrying around backstage, knocking over Verge's paints and art materials and messing with the fakes bushes and trees. Sashi was getting frustrated and was shouting as the birds tried pecking at her head. She managed to catch one bird and glare at it.

"One more peck, and you're chicken!"

"Whoa, whoa, Sash!" Verge quickly flew over and took the bird in her hands. "This little guy doesn't mean any harm!" The bird chirped in her hand and she petted its little head.

"They tried to peck me alive! They were running away from me!"

"Only 'cause they were afraid! What exactly did you say to these guys?"

"That if they misbehaved, I would skin them alive and feed them to the crows."

'_Well, no wonder,'_ Verge sighed as she turned to the animals. "Hey, guys! Line up! Sashi's not gonna hurt ya'll."

The animals were confused, but they quickly lined up in front of the fairy. Sashi frowned at that. "Learning how to speak animal pays off."

Verge chuckled. "You don't need to know how to speak animal to be able to be friends with them! All you need is kindness."

Sashi still looked confused, so the fairy decided to show her how it's done. She bent down towards the squirrel and held her hand out. It sniffed it like a dog, rather suspiciously, but then it rubbed its head against her hand. Verge petted it and it chattered happily. It climbed up Verge's arm and perched on her shoulder. "See?"

"Yeah, I can't do this."

"Come on. Give it a try!"

Sashi hesitated, but she also bent down and held her hand out. Unfortunately, the animals still couldn't gain her trust. They only chattered in fright and moved back. The girl groaned and stood again. "See? Animals hate me."

"No, they don't. Call out to them. Say that you mean no harm."

"What? That's stupid."

"Just try, Sash! Trust me."

Sashi only groaned more. But Verge was serious with this. She sighed in defeat and bent down again. "It's OK. I do not want to hurt you. You can trust me."

"That was more of a robot's call, but good enough."

The animals looked at each other nervously. They still didn't seem to fall for it. But one bird hopped right up to Sashi and examined her. She looked at it and held her hand out. The bird hopped into it and Sashi stood. It finally chirped and flew on top of Sashi's little hat. That seemed to convince the others. They surrounded her again, but in a much more friendlier way.

"Huh!" Sashi looked at Verge and grinned. The fairy gave a thumbs up.

"You can take it from here, right?"

"You bet. Thanks, Verge."

"Ah, no problem. Gotta get this backdrop over to Boone." She folded the giant curtain and dusted it. It started to float and Verge flew back into the forest.

She almost couldn't find it. Boone already set everything up. The trees were all there and so were the bushes. Verge proceeded hanging the curtain up. Once she was done, she tried knocking on the switch platform. "Boone!"

Just as she said that, the trees folded themselves and the switch platform changed. She flew right off and Boone appeared, grinning. "Here!" He grinned even wider when he saw the backdrop. "Whoa, Verge! Did you make that?"

"Uh, yeah. We can get to that later. What's the plan?"

"Simple, really. You have to be the one to give the signal since you're the one in the air and all. Penn and Rip step by, and you wait for the 'almost-killing' part."

"There's an almost-killing part?"

"Sure! Anyway, wait for that, then you quickly dust Penn, freeing him, and then we'll deal with the rest."

"Well…sounds complicated, but I'll take it." She high-fived Boone again.

"Thou shall be waiting!" Boone grinned as he switched the platforms again.

"We are so ready for this."

Nighttime soon fell upon the heroes. Sashi finally appeared with the animals and hid them in the bushes. Apparently, all they needed to do was act natural. Verge was on the higher stage floor, watching intently as she waited for Penn to get the treasure. Sashi waited with her.

"You think this is gonna work?" she asked.

"It has to," Verge insisted. "We all worked so hard…"

"Mm-hmm. Especially on that backdrop." Sashi raised an eyebrow expectantly.

'_Oh, we are _not _having this,' _Verge thought to herself. She opened her mouth to make an excuse, but then she heard Penn's voice from a distance. She looked and found him inside a tree that was "guarded" by a sleeping Larry. _'That must be where the treasure's supposed to be.'_

"There's nothing here," Penn gasped.

"Oh, I wouldn't say nothing."

An arrow came flying towards him and hit through an apple as it landed on the tree. Penn gasped when Rippen came over. "Did you really think I'd let Larry guard the gold, Number Two? Or should I say," He ripped the mask off. "Penn Zero?" Rippen smirked at his enemy. "The real hiding place is over there." He pointed at a nearby tree that had another guard by it, but that man was sleeping just like Larry.

"Yes, you almost had me fooled, but you made one big mistake. A true villain would never help Leonardo Da Vince to his feet. A Number Two who likes neck paint and has great 'thy mother' jokes? It was too good to be true." Rippen aimed his crossbow at Penn, who had his arms raised up as they stepped right in front of where the switch platform was.

"Right on target," Verge grinned.

"You may not be a real villain, but you're going to perish like one."

"Verge? Sashi? Boone? Help!" Penn yelled. But Verge couldn't act yet.

"You fool!" Rippen sneered. "Don't you know that you should never rely on anyone, especially your Number Two?" He aimed his crossbow and grinned. "I'll be sure to send my condolences to Westminstershireville."

All Penn could do right now was stare in horror.

"OK, acting now." Verge swooped in right at that very moment and dusted Verge really well. He floated and flew in the air before Rippen could even fire. Now, he gasped at the situation.

"_What?!"_

"Action!" Boone's voice yelled.

The fake bushes were rolled away. The trees folded themselves and were switched with Boone's platform. He stood proudly with a megaphone as Sashi dropped in, the backdrop revealing itself. "Guards! Take 'em away!" The villains raised their hands up as guards that were with him pushed them from the scene. "Good job, boys!"

"Haha!" Penn laughed as he and Verge did a tiny fist-bump. "Nice!"

"Couldn't let you die right there, could I?" Verge grinned as they both landed back on the ground.

Penn gave a sigh of relief. "What took you guys so long?"

"I wanted to force you to get real with the scene." He looked around the area and grinned. "Whoa! Great work on the set, Sash!"

"Thanks," she said. "Verge helped a lot, especially with that backdrop. The hardest part was training the squirrels and birds, but we both managed. That's a wrap, guys!" The animals from earlier emerged from their fake bush and chattered off, dragging the prop with them.

"Well, you guys really saved my skin back there," Penn smiled.

"Of course," Verge grinned. "We couldn't fail this mission, even if Rippen _did_ hope for success."

"So, Verge…you made the backdrop all by yourself?"

"Here we go again," the fairy mumbled, facepalming. She then looked up when she saw one of Rippen's men had turned on him and had him by the collar. Penn walked over to the jail carriage, smirking at Rippen's screaming. "Help me, Larry! Larry!"

Once Rippen was taken away, the man gave Penn the gold, and he tossed him a silver coin. "Don't you think he deserved more?" Verge asked.

"This town is in debt, Verge. They'll get more eventually." The fairy rolled her eyes as Penn returned the chest.

The blue flash appeared, and they got zapped.

* * *

The sun was slowly setting by the time they got back. Verge was sketching in her pad again. This time, she was drawing Penn talking to his disguised self. She paused as she grinned at the recent memory.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. Penn, Sashi, and Boone were all there, on the roof with her. She opened her mouth, hoping to say something, but Penn beat her to it.

"We were wondering if you could draw as right now as we watch this sunset," he smirked. The three sat beside her and smiled.

Verge stared at them, a little confused, but then she looked at Penn, who only gave a knowing glance. The fairy couldn't help chuckling as she did as he asked.

The four of them spent the rest of dusk just staring at the sunset as Verge drew the moment in her pad.

* * *

**LOL I think it's obvious on what Verge's catchphrase is. No one in PZ:PTH has one so I gave Verge one :P Anyway, I hope this was good, and...yeah the usual request.**

**Y'know, I really feel like I've lost motivation, 'cause like it's as if most of the PZ fans are gone. Either that, or something. What happened to all the writers Q-Q **


	17. 3 Big Problems

**Episode 14: 3 Big Problems**

* * *

**There's a reason why I love guest reviewers so much uvu**

**Yep, not "4 Big Problems" w You'll see why when you read this chap.**

* * *

It was a time of war that day at the gymnasium. Verge sat by the seats, was wearing her red sleeveless vest, as she stared intensely. Everyone each picked up a red ball and the coach looked at the students with a bored expression.

"You guys play dodgeball, I'll be in my car sleeping."

"Go guys!" Verge cheered out, watching her three best friends "learning".

Sashi was expertly throwing balls back and forth and she always hit her target. All targets except for Penn, though. "I'm comin' for ya, Sashi!" he declared, throwing a ball.

"What's wrong, dude?" Sashi smirked, merely dodging his attacks. "If you're gonna hit me, then hit me!"

She threw balls at him, but Penn only dodged them as well as she did. Verge was laughing at how much balls ended up getting at her, but she ducked them anyway.

"Hyah!" Sashi kicked two balls, but Boone used two people to shield them from them.

"Your sacrifice is not in vain!" he promised, swinging a ball at Sashi.

But she ended up ducking it easily, yawning at such efforts. The ball bounced back, passing Boone. The school mascot was behind them, singing again. _"~I've got—" _But it his chest, bounced off, and hit Boone behind him.

"Who threw that?!" he demanded. Verge rolled her eyes and paid attention to Penn and Sashi.

It was one-on-one.

There was one last ball. Penn reached for it, ready to throw. "Yeah!"

"Ha!" Sashi kicked it off and took it for herself. But the moment she was about to throw…

The bell rang.

"It's a tie!" Penn shrugged, grinning as he held his hand out. "Nice game, Sash."

The girl seemed very disappointed, as she shook his hand.

Verge bolted upright. "Sashi, no!"

"Aaaaannnd…squish."

Sashi's eyes widened when Penn poked a ball at her head. "Oh! Yeah! Fire bell, not a school bell!" He pointed to show that there were indeed firefighters on a firetruck by the exit. Penn smirked. "Hey, thanks fellas, I owe you one, I'm bringing pizza on Friday." He started laughing at Sashi.

Verge and Boone looked at each other and were both thinking the same thing. _'Oh, boy.'_

"You totally thought that was the bell! You should see the look on your fa—_Agh!"_

It was a face of _pure anger._

"Is that the wrath of Satan, I see?" Verge folded her arms and smirked.

Penn looked at Sashi in terror and gulped.

Let's just say the result wasn't pretty.

Verge had to walk to the Odyssey this time because she spent the entire trip there carrying a bruised Penn. Sashi went ahead, refusing to speak to him. She'd punched almost his entire face. Until now, he still had a hard time standing.

"It's all right, Sash," Verge comforted. "It was just a game, anyway."

"It was _war,_ Verge. War."

"Hello? Beaten-up citizen over here?" Penn groaned.

"You're also a cheater, a liar, and a shame to your family."

"Oh, get over it already, Sash!"

"Well, what you did was a little too extreme," Boone agreed.

"Hey! I won fair and square!"

He crossed the line. Sashi quickly turned and punched him square in the face again.

"_Ow!"_

The girl only huffed and entered the Odyssey.

"Where were you to help me, Verge?" Penn demanded.

"Already helping you _stand, _already sort of helped with your wounds, and quietly watching your shame and misery."

Penn entered the cinema groggily, moaning. Phyllis turned, got one look at him, and pressed a button on the wall.

An alarm started to sound. The four looked up, confused. A metal hand grabbed Penn away from Verge. "Huh?! Ah!"

Phyllis only stood in protective wear as she set Penn into a glass container. "OK, say goodbyes, Penn Zero has contracted pandonium moon warts. So, we shoot him into sun."

"_What?!" _Penn shrieked.

"Relax, Phyllis," Sashi piped up. "Those are just welts of shame from dodgeball."

"They are! They really are!"

Phyllis rolled her eyes and pulled a lever. Everything went back to normal and the metal hand let Penn out. He was already shivering in fear of the woman.

"Sorry. My bad."

Verge actually laughed as she took her red vest off and flew over her friends. "It's not funny, Verge!" Penn protested.

"You're right, Zero. It's hilarious."

Before Penn could contradict, Phyllis called, "Good luck!" and they were zapped in.

* * *

When Penn opened his eyes, he looked at his form and lit up. "Yes! What? I'm like a, lizard hero! Ah, what's our mission? Eating flies? Catching some rays? Selling car insurance?"

Suddenly, something flew into his nose, causing him to let out a blast of fire. He took a look at it and thought it was a fly. But it was more than that. It was a helicopter.

"Guys? I think we're…"

"Giant monsters?!" Boone exclaimed, grinning.

Penn turned and was face-to-face with a giant bug. He roared in surprise, only later realizing it was Sashi, and was causing more fire. She only barely dodged it. "Ow!" She sent some sort of beam from her eyes at Penn for payback.

But she missed and hit Boone's foot. "Ow, ah! You zapped my toes!"

He suddenly fell on a rock from jumping. "Ow…"

"That's enough zapping," Penn said nervously. "OK, I see three of us. Where's Verge?"

Suddenly, he and Sashi heard a tiny squeaky voice. "Guys, over here!" They turned but saw nothing. "Guys!"

"Verge, where are you?" Sashi called.

"_Here!"_

"Where?!" Penn yelled, but then he let out a blast of fire from talking. He didn't think that would affect anything but then he heard tiny shrieking.

"Penn!" Sashi shouted. The hero finally looked downwards to see tiny Verge falling.

"Whoa, whoa!" Penn easily caught her, but she still landed pretty badly.

Verge groaned as she grew to human size. "Are you OK?" Penn asked frantically as he leaned closer.

"Ow…" Verge looked behind her and winced. "Zero…you broke my wing."

"Oh gosh oh gosh, Verge I'm so sorry!"

"It'll heal…I mean, it did before. I guess I can't fly for a while."

"I didn't mean to!" Unfortunately, as he said that, he let out another blast of fire.

Verge was lucky she was able to dodge it. "I know you didn't, just watch your talking!"

"Sorry!"

"Come on, Verge," Sashi flew over and Penn placed the fairy on her head. He was a little worried that she could've been more than badly burnt, but she appeared to be fine.

"Let's just get this over with, OK? That way we can get home quickly and treat it."

Penn sighed. "OK, Sash, check the Specs."

"OK, we're misunderstood monsters. And we must convince the human president that all the monsters are good!"

"How come I didn't turn into a monster?" Verge asked, slightly disappointed.

"Because there are _humans_ here, Verge. Maybe if there weren't, sure, but for now, you're still a fairy."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Penn said, holding his hands up. "_All _the monsters?"

Verge looked over the rock and smiled at what he saw. As he fell, the other three had a good look. "Whoa."

It was almost like a monster city. There weren't a lot of them, but they were talking and acting like real humans would. A baby monster was just learning how to walk and was heading for them.

"Aww," Boone cooed. "Who's the little giant monster baby? Yes, you are!

But then it started crying, causing lasers to shoot from his nose. It hit Boone's butt, and he yelped. "Ow!"

"You know for monsters, these guys are pretty chill," Penn admitted.

"And cute," Verge added.

"I'm sure the president will be reasonable…"

"Look out!"

A rocket zoomed past him and hit the rock wall with a blast. The monsters fled for cover.

The quartet turned to find army ships sailing for their direction. They fired missiles at the island and directly at the heroes.

"No!" Penn shouted, causing fire from his mouth. It easily deflected some of them.

"Go, Sash!" Verge yelled, and the flying bug moved forward. She shot a beam from her eyes, hitting two missiles more.

But one zoomed past her. Boone yelped and ducked, but the missile luckily hit the rock stuck on his horn.

Once all was clear, they all sighed. "I don't mean to toot my own horn," Boone said. "But I will because I actually can, watch this." He stuck a thumb in his mouth and started blowing, as the horn on his head actually created a melody.

"Boone, stop that!" Verge scolded. "You guys need to focus on your mission, in case you haven't noticed!"

"She's right," Sashi said, looking up. "We have to get moving."

"Let's head to the human island!"

"OK," Penn said slowly. "How exactly do we do that?"

"Uh, duh. Walk on the water?"

"…Oh, yeah…"

The heroes quickly got moving, stepping into the ocean and heading towards the neighboring island. Without looking, Penn accidentally stepped in the army ships' area.

"Careful, Zero!"

"What? Oh!"

"Someone could get hurt!"

"Wouldn't mind if it was Rippen, though," Sashi spoke up.

"Even still!"

"Whoa, Verge," Boone said. "We know you're cranky from your wing or something, but that doesn't mean—"

"That's not it, stupid!" she shouted. "Never mind! Just get going already."

The three monsters exchanged nervous glances.

Lucky for them, they did get to the island without hurting anyone. But they did practically terrify all the citizens there.

"Fear not! We come in peace!" Penn promised. But as soon as he said that, he stepped on the Island City Hall. "Oh. Uh, we are totally willing to do chores to pay for a new city hall! If you have something you want to be stepped on, we seem to be really good at that! So, put that on the list—"

He cut himself off when his fire hit a museum, blowing it up. And everything else around. Everyone started screaming. "OK, OK, that one was not my fault! That's just bad city planning. I mean, why do you have a TNT museum? You humans are crazy! I mean, just nuts."

Unfortunately for them, the alarm started to sound. The humans shrieked and ran for their lives as they boarded for ships and helicopters to take them to a safer place.

"Nice reasoning, Zero," Verge grumbled from Sashi's head.

"I'm trying!"

"You can't help for them being scared! Small things always think the bigger ones are the most superior!"

At those words, Penn had to frown. "What?"

"Nothing. Just do something!"

The lizard hero sighed and turned to Boone, who seemed to be climbing up a building like King Kong or something. "OK, you have to speak for us."

"And say what?"

"First, tell them—" But then he just caused more fire and hit an Explosions store. "Ugh, every time I talk I blow things up!"

"Whisper it!" Sashi hissed.

Penn considered the thought. "OK, big guy. Keep it simple. Just tell them, 'Humans, we are here…'"

"Got it," Boone nodded. "Humans! We are here…to melt you!"

"Help you! Help—" Once he shouted, the fire started again, and he hit the Bridge of Peace.

"Yeah, this isn't working out," Verge told Sashi.

"Ugh, this is impossible! I can't say anything!" Then his eyes widened and he lit up. "Wait a minute. I can't say anything…"

"Is this crazy idea time?"

"_Super_ crazy idea time. Let's just first be careful to avoid any more destructions."

But as soon as he said that, Boone got off the building, and stepped on a roller rink. "Whoa!" he yelped as he fell on it. "Sorry!"

"OK! Let's just find the president's office. Verge, could you—" He cut himself off when he remembered her hurt wing. "Never mind. Sashi, do you see it anywhere?"

"Yes," she replied. "Just a few buildings way over there."

She pointed forward and they did see it. "Good. We're playing charades, guys!"

"What?!"

"It's our only option. We have to show them we don't mean any harm. And what better way than to play a game?"

"How are you guys gonna get over there without destroying things?" Verge questioned. The president's building was way too far for them to reach.

"Guess we have to call their attention." Penn lifted his foot and started stomping. He saw the window open and silently cheered. The three monsters started doing some random movements.

"You guys do know you look ridiculous right now, right?" Verge called.

"Stop stalling, more playing!" He waved one finger in the air, hoping that signaled something.

The president grabbed a megaphone and called out to Penn. "First word. One syllable." Penn grinned and started flapping his arms. "Rhymes with chickens? No. Ducks? No. Geese?" The three nodded, smiling. "Ha! Lucky guess. OK, rhymes with geese. Ooh! Grease? Heese?"

"Is that even a word?" Verge asked. Penn could only shake his head in confusion.

"Peace? You want peace?" the president cried. Penn and Boone grinned happily and swung each other around in silent victory dance.

Unfortunately for Penn, he accidentally stepped on another building. "Not the Sentimental Violin Factory!" the president groaned.

"This isn't working either!" Sashi complained.

"What else could work out for us now?" Boone groaned. "It's hopeless."

"No, it's not!" Verge insisted. "You gotta think deep!"

"I'm sort of running out of ideas, Verge!" Penn protested as he collapsed on the island side.. "You're the guide! Don't you have anything?!"

Ouch. Those words sort of stung. Verge just glared. "Is it really a good thing to ask someone as small as me to think big like you?"

Penn got a sad expression. "Verge, what's wrong? You're not yourself today."

"Shut up. I don't tell you everything."

Penn was about to say something else when he suddenly turned and gasped when he saw a giant missile launcher heading right for the city and it started aiming for them. "Uh-oh! Missiles!" Boone shouted.

"Oh, this is gonna hurt!" Penn yelled.

"Looks like this is how a Boone-Unicorn-Monkey-Man is goin' out," Boone graved. "Tell my best friend I love him."

"I thought I was your best friend."

"You are."

"OK. You want me to tell me you love me?"

"Yes."

"All right. That just seems like an overly complicated way to say that, but here goes. 'I love you, Penn. From Boone'. Ya know, that was really nice."

"Guys! Calm down!" Verge yelled.

"No one's gonna die, stupids!" Sashi shouted. "Dodgeball!"

As soon as she said that, she grabbed a missile and threw it right back towards the ocean. It hit another missile and it exploded.

"Yeah!"

Boone did the same thing and caught a missile. Sashi caught and threw them back and forth, grinning as they blasted. Penn smiled as he got into the rhythm. Verge was too small to catch them like her friends, but she managed to use her protection magic and block some out.

"Not bad, my friends!" Penn cheered. "Not bad at all!"

But one last missile zoomed past them. "No!" Verge shouted, attempting to block it. But it was too late. The missile hit and bounced off buildings, crushing them. Penn gasped every time.

Finally, it landed in the volcano's crater. Penn, Verge, and Sashi shrieked.

"We got a huge break that the missile went into that mountain with a hole on top."

Penn and Verge exchanged glances. "Seriously?" she asked.

"Boone, that's not just a mountain. It's a volc—"

"Let him figure it out," Sashi interrupted, nudging him.

Lava started bursting out of the "mountain" and started flowing down the sides. Magma gushed, flowing into the forests, and started closing in on the city. "Oh, I get it now," Boone chuckled. "It was a volcano. Yeah…oooohhhh, _it's a volcano!_ What kind of stupid city builds itself next to a volcano?!"

"This kind!" Verge replied. "Don't give up, guys! These humans depend on you! There's got to be a way out of this! You gotta find it!"

"But how?! It's a volcano!"

"Builds itself next to a volcano," Penn mused, slowly grinning. "Boone, you're a genius!"

"I am a wise man, after all."

"Come on, guys! Strengthen your muscles! Verge, I sure hope you still have fairy dust!"

"What are you thinking?!"

Penn reached down and started to lift the city. Boone reached for the other side and did the same. They struggled to pick it up, but they did manage to create one giant hole under it. The lava filled it in right after.

"Verge, now!"

The fairy on Sashi's head conjured up the biggest ball of dust she could manage. The more dust she took, the heavier it got. Holding it high over her head, she tossed it right under the city. It was enough to help the three monsters a little bit as they carried the city over towards the monster island.

"It's heavier than it looks!" Boone wheezed. "Oh, I'm gonna get a hernia."

"Ohh, my back," Penn groaned.

"Watch the horns!"

Once they got into the island, the president saw all the monsters welcoming them as they grinned at the human city. Penn and Boone finally set it down and relaxed.

"You did it, guys!" Verge cheered. Penn grinned at her. He set a hand over to the president on the roof and she hopped on.

"You saved our city!" she cried. "You've also completely ruined our power grid and sewer system, but let's focus on the positive! Thank you, monsters!" Everyone then started cheering. "I knew we could be friends! I'd love to share this moment with Ensign!"

As Penn set her down, he then took Verge off Sashi's head. "You OK, Vergie?"

"Good," she smiled at him. "I just can't wait to fly again."

* * *

Back at their room, Penn was bandaging Verge up. She winced as he carefully wrapped it around the fragile material of the golden wing.

"Easy. They're still very delicate."

"You're lucky I didn't tear it or anything," Penn said. "It should probably take overnight to heal again." He cut the bandage and patted her shoulder. "All right. That should do it."

"Thanks, Zero…" The expression on her face didn't seem too happy, though.

Penn got a sad expression and looked down. "Hey, Verge…are you sure you're fine? Earlier this mission, you seemed pretty sensitive."

The fairy took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "I guess the thought of me feeling small the entire mission wasn't helping much…"

"But…you like being small."

"Not all the time…I honestly feel like if I couldn't transform to a human size, people would take advantage of me being tiny. Sometimes, I feel like I can't do anything while I'm small…." Verge got a hurt look on her face. "I don't know if I could be of any use to the team then…"

"That's not true," Penn insisted, turning her to face him. "You're always great when you help out in missions. You're there to _guide_ us, remember? Just…focus on your position. You're awesome at that."

When Penn smiled at her and held his finger out, Verge couldn't help but smile and tiny fist bump it back. "Thanks, Zero. I guess I needed that…"

"Don't be so conscious about your small size. It's what makes you adorable, right?"

Verge lit up as she chuckled at him. "Wow, you're so correct!"

"Aren't I always?" Penn lightly punched her shoulder playfully and the two laughed.

* * *

**So close to the last ep! And so close to drawing all of the eps too. Reviews are still appreciated, but thanks for all the support guys. uvu**


	18. Cereal Criminals

**Episode 15: Cereal Criminals**

* * *

**I have to admit, I feel like I'm competing with something here. As one who is aspiring to be an author, I feel threatened when one at my level has works higher than mine. Stupid, right? I can't help my deadly sin being envy.**

**I don't know why I'm talking about this, haha. Remember to read, rate, and review~**

* * *

Art class. Supposedly a time of creativity and expressing yourself, right? Not when Rippen is teacher.

Penn was working on a project during that time, merely splattering different colors of paint all over the canvas. Rippen squinted at his "art" as some of Penn's paint got on his face.

"What ever happened to a good old-fashioned still life?" he muttered, scribbling the boy's grade. "F-minus."

"Rejection only feats my art," Penn proclaimed, smiling.

Rippen grumbled, but then something caught his eye. He reached into Penn's hair and brought out what looked like a fairy doll. He raised an eyebrow but Penn said nothing. He rolled his eyes when the fairy winked at him, and shoved her into the redhead's hand.

"You two are inseparable."

"Hello! Principal Larry here with your Teacher Evaluation forms!" Larry came into the art class, grinning his usual smile as he passed papers out. "Whatever teacher gets the best eval gets to park in my spot~ Which means…~"

The art teacher's eyes widened. "No more walking through Water Sprinkler Row."

As he looked out the window and sighed, Penn and Verge secretly exchanged a look. They both knew what the other was thinking.

Boone walked up to Rippen smugly. "It appears that the glove is on the other shoe." The part-time villain only stared in confusion.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class and the end of the day. Everyone piled out of the classroom, and the part-time heroes headed for their jobs. Verge appeared out of Penn's hair again and grinned. "You guys are thinking what I'm thinking, right?"

"Absolutely!/Yes!/Totally!"

"If only I was a student…"

Penn didn't reply. All he did was smile smugly the entire trip to the Odyssey. Phyllis raised an eyebrow when she saw them. "What is wrong with face?"

"This expression is called a 'smile', Phyllis," Penn said proudly as they stepped onto the platform. "And I have it, because I'm about to obliterate Rippen on his Teacher Evaluation!"

"Your boring story is like glass in my ear, goodbye." With that, she zapped them in.

* * *

When Penn opened his eyes, looked at his form, he gasped. "I'm Choco Chuck! Oh ho ho ho! Choco Choco Choco Trunks is my all-time favorite cereal!" He got into a daze and started chanting the cereal's motto: _"Choco Choco Choco Trunks are Choco Choco Trunkalicious!"_ As he trumpeted his nose, the Choco Trunks logo appeared over him. "Oh, and Sashi, you're—"

"Flamingo," she interrupted. She shot a Flaming-O out of her little gun and crunched on a cereal. _"Agent Flamingo. Flaming-O's are the perfect way to start your day. Flaming-O, yeah! Crunch like you mean it."_

Penn was giddy with excitement. "Oh! Yes, yes, yes. And Boone, who are you? Uh…oh."

When the boy looked at his form, he was anything but satisfied. "The Be Well Beaver?" He groaned as he chanted the motto. _"Kale Flakes give you a healthy breakfast boost. Take it from the Be Well Beaver. Nutrition is radical." _He reluctantly crunched on the cereal. _"Mm-mm. And Kale Flakes taste healthier in water."_

"Now, that's a lie," The cereal mascots looked up to see that Verge hadn't changed form. Again. That only thing that was different was her size. She was the exact same height as the three, but she couldn't be any smaller.

"Aww, Vergie, you disappointed you couldn't be a Fairy Princess or something?" Boone teased.

"Shut up, Wiseman. At least I'm still an adorable fairy. My unchanged form isn't going to get in the way of me getting a taste sample of every cereal here."

"Better watch that sweet tooth, Verge," Penn warned. "How are you going to hold in all that cereal?"

"I don't tell you everything." She landed on the ground and immediately bit into a cereal bit by the sidewalk.

"OK, guys," Sashi declared. "Mission time. We're cereal mascots—"

"Mm!" Boone interrupted her with his crunching as he chewed on another cereal bit. "You gotta try these Frosted Wacky Snaps. You can really taste the wacky!"

Sashi only rolled her eyes. "Who must stop the evil milkman who's flooding cereal farms with milk to make all the cereals soggy."

Unfortunately, no one appeared to be paying attention to her. Penn had joined the fairy and beaver in the crunching and they all escaped into a Cereal Daze. "Mmmm…"

"Enough crunching!" the flamingo commanded. The other three stared at her.

"Isn't your motto 'Crunch like you mean it'?" Verge asked.

"…"

"That's what I thought." She went back to crunching more cereal. Sashi only sighed.

But then a milk truck passed by and she grinned. "Guys, look!"

Someone came out of it and went to start sprinkling the milk behind it. "Not so fast, Rippen!" Penn proclaimed.

But when the man turned, he was smiling, and didn't have Rippen's face at all. "Rippen? Oh, no, friends." He straightened his bow tie. _"I'm the Milkman. And milk is a healthy part of a balanced breakfast! Drink up now, Brand Milk! It's easier than getting your own cow!"_

"I dunno, I'd prefer milking a cow," Verge admitted, still chewing.

"Only you, Verge…" Boone commented.

"You're going to be eating up those words," the Milkman said, still smiling. "So you drink up now."

"That doesn't make sense. He tells me that I'm going to be eating, but then he tells me to drink?" Everyone stared at the fairy.

"Don't mind me, just soakin' things." The Milkman had already practically soaked up the entire cereal farm and left no color to spare.

"Let's go!" The four of them sprung to action, running for the Milkman.

But he only sprayed his milk hose at them. And he was still smiling. "Drink a glass of milk! Everything's better soggy."

"Ah, great," Verge grumbled, picking up her wet wings. "Just…great."

As the boys helped her up, Sashi growled and stood immediately. "Flaming-O, yeah!" She shot her Flaming-Os at the Milkman.

However, the cereals only seemed to pass right through. "Golly. I was strawberry milk for about half a second." The four of them exchanged worried glances, shrugging. "You folks have a lot of energy. So let's play a game." As he went back into his truck, he continued to speak. "Answer my riddle, and you'll see. I plan to destroy all the cereal at six o'clock minus three."

The four deadpanned at him. "So…three o'clock?" Penn asked.

"…Golly. I guess I'm better at soaking than riddle-making." With that, he drove off, leaving the four of them behind.

"I should've done something," Verge grumbled. "Grew flowers on him, burn a hole through his head…"

"And even that wouldn't work," Penn protested. "We need to find out where the Milkman plans to first soak all the cereals…"

"Help! Help!" a voice shouted out, and they saw a fellow cereal mascot farmer run up to them. "My Crispity Crump craw…eh, Crispity Crunch crop…"

"Sir, any idea how he'll make the valley soggy?" Sashi asked.

"No," the mascot replied but he reached for a cereal newsbox and pointed at it. "But according to the story on him on the front page of the Crunchington Post, he was an inmate at Marshmallow Dreams maximum security prison." He picked up a Choco Choco Choco Trunks cereal box and showed the front. "If anyone knows the Milkman's plan, it'd be his best friend and old cellmate."

Penn gasped. "Of course! Wrong Way Wally! That pesky wolverine who's always trying to steal my Choco Choco Choco Trunks!"

"It's settled then," Verge smiled, grabbing yet another cereal and stood straight. "Let's fly!"

She jumped, ready to dust, but landed flat on her face after realizing her wet wings. "…This is getting old."

"It's OK, Verge," Penn said, helping her up again. "Just dust us in the simple way."

The fairy frowned but she conjured a dust ball and spread it around her friends. As they flew upwards, Penn scanned the area and lit up. "I see the prison!"

"So do I!" Boone said. "Wow, the view up here's awesome."

"Are you _trying_ to make me feel bad?" Verge shouted.

Penn and Sashi flew down to her and each took one of Verge's hands. She smiled at them gratefully as they carried her into the air. With now all four of them flying, they headed straight for the building.

Once they landed, Penn managed to get the guard to have a confrontation with his enemy. As they walked through the hall and past the cells, Verge got the creeps.

"And I thought Rippen was already annoying enough,"

Penn chuckled, patting her shoulder, and they finally arrived at the end of the corridor, a certain wolverine was already waiting for them.

"Wrong Way Wally," Penn said.

Rippen smiled. "I've been expecting you."

"Me too!" They suddenly turned to see an opossum mascot, grinning. "I've got juice boxes for everybody! Do you like our place?"

"You've been here five minutes."

"I take our home seriously."

Only Boone seemed to grin at Larry's form. "Otis the Opossum?! You go bonkers for Banana Bran! Hey, remember that commercial where Otis wanted Banana Bran so bad he used his life savings to buy the Banana Bran factory? But then he defaulted on his loans and went to prison?"

Boone was laughing, but everyone else was silent as they saw Larry's face go all sad. "You hit a sore subject there," Verge whispered, nudging the beaver. "He's on the verge of tears." **(A/N: LOl see what I did there? xD)**

Penn shook his head and went back to business. "At three o'clock, your old cellmate, the Milkman, is gonna turn all the cereal fields soggy, and we need to know how he plans to do that."

"Why on Earth would I help you?"

"Why? Why. Uh…"

"Psst." Verge suddenly got an idea and walked over to Penn to whisper something in his ear.

He lit up at what she said and smirked at Rippen when she turned away. "Because of this!"

He snapped his fingers and Verge dimmed the lights and directed two spotlights to shine on him and Boone. And despite her hatred, she got them into a musical act:

_~Put aside your hate, and just cooperate_

_We can catch the Milkman_

_(Catch the Milkman!)_

_Catch the Milkman with you~_

"Sash!" Verge whispered as they sang.

The flamingo understood completely and quickly climbed a ladder and over to the clock on the wall.

_~Catch the Milkman~_

She adjusted the hands.

_~Catch the Milkman~_

She got off the ladder.

_~Catch the Milkman with you~_

"Trying to win me over with jazz hands won't work," Rippen said bluntly. "Believe me, Larry has tried many times."

"It's true~" the opossum sang.

"You're just one sad wolverine," Verge shook her head. "Both form and soul."

"Come on, PZ," Sashi said, trying not to smile as she glanced over at Verge. "We'll figure out the Milkman's plan without him." Sashi tried to pull him away, but he yanked his arm back.

"No! I know how to make him talk."

Practically being his other half, Verge gasped when she suddenly realized what he might say. "You don't mean…"

"Oh, I mean."

"Don't, Zero, I beg of you!"

"We will give you the most positive teacher evaluation in the history of public education!" As Sashi and Boone gasped, Verge broke to the floor.

"_Noooooooo!"_

Ignoring her, Penn continued. "No more Water Sprinkler Row. What do you say?"

Rippen hesitated, slowly turning to his enemy. "Are you serious?"

"Nothing would turn my stomach more than writing nice things about you, Ol' Rip. But I'll do it, if it helps us catch the Milkman by three o'clock!"

Rippen smiled smugly. "Very well. You've got yourself a deal." The elephant smiled.

"Zero! Why did you have to go into the light?!" Verge continued to sob.

"Verge, calm down, you're not even going to be writing an evaluation!"

"But I'll be experiencing you do it!"

"…Well, yeah, that's true…"

As the two argued, Rippen just went on starting his lecture. "To catch a villain, you must think like a villain. And to think like a villain, you must understand what drives them to villainy."

Penn and Verge exchanged a glance. "Uh, great, yeah, but I just really wanna know where the Milkman is gonna strike—"

"Case in point! I am driven by my need to outdo my sister Vlurgen."

"That-That's really interesting, but…"

"Papa and Mama always liked Vlurgen better. Blurgen was given everything I've ever wanted. A really evil car, a different magical scepter for every day of the week, competent evil henchmen. No offense, Larry."

"None taken!"

"Is he gonna bore us to death?" Verge whispered.

"OK!" Penn exclaimed. "I-I'm gonna stop you right there. Listen, I know how Vlurgen's really been a problem for you, and maybe you could invite her to our next session, but right now I need you to focus on helping us stop the Milkman!"

"…You're right. I'm sorry." Verge grunted, thinking he really wasn't. "The Milkman is…"

Suddenly, the bell on the clock started to ring, signaling it was now three o'clock. While the four didn't say a word, Rippen seemed to be overjoyed.

"Uh-oh! Did you hear that, my dear boy! That was the mellifluous knell of your bitter defeat. That blabberfest was simply to run out the clock! Now you can't stop the Milkman! Finally! I'm a full-time villain!"

Larry suddenly pulled a lever and balloons started falling out of the ceiling. "Oh, I've waited so long for this!" Rippen giggled as Larry placed a hat with the words "Full Time Villain" on his head. "The best part is, the Milkman's target couldn't be more obvious!"

He then got a newsbox and pointed. "Look at the bottom of the Crunchington Post! It's the tenth Anniversary of the Crispy Valley Milk Dam. To flood Crispy Valley all the Milkman had to do was sabotage that dam!"

"That's it, let's go!" Penn exclaimed.

Rippen laughed. "Uh, hello? It's already 3pm!"

Penn and Verge exchanged a look and smiled. "Actually, it's 2pm! I knew the only way you'd tell me anything is if you thought it was too late. So we turned your clock, forward."

"The fairy's idea, by the way," Verge called, raising her hand.

"Always there to guide," The two did a tiny fist bump. "Come on, guys!"

As the four exited, the wolverine was flabbergasted. "What?! No! It's not fair!"

The team didn't hear the rest of what he said as they got out and scanned for transportation. Unfortunately for Verge, her wings were still wet from that milk blast. But she lit up when she found the milk river, leading to the dam. "Let's take that cereal boat!"

"Awesome!" As they climbed in it, Penn found an eggbeater paddle and started using it to float down the river. "Full speed ahead!"

As they passed by cereal farms, Boone was amazed by all the farmers/mascots tending to the cereal. "Wow!" he gasped. "Lenny the Lion? I love your Lemon Lime Lion Logs!"

"Boone, focus!" Verge scolded yet again at his distractions. "No matter how much I want to fly over there and take a bite!"

"There he is!" Penn cried. The Milkman's truck was on the dam and he looked ready to start soaking. Penn tried speeding the eggbeater up to catch up.

But the Milkman beat him to it. He reached for the milk cap and unleashed all the milk from the dam. The team yelped, as they had to ride a milk wave.

"Hello again, friends," the Milkman grinned, tossing the cap. "You drink up now!"

"Sashi," Penn started. "Get that cap. Boone, Verge, slow that spill down!"

The three nodded. Sashi flew down the river. Boone took Verge and they swam into it.

As they got out, they looked around. "We gotta find something to stop that spill!" Verge cried.

The looked down and found that they appeared to have landed in a Kale Flake crop. "Ugh, Kale," Boone said in disgust.

"Come on, beaver! Do your thing!"

Sighing, Boone took a bite of some Kale. He took some more of them into his mouth and stood up tall, an entire wad now caught in it. "Kale Flakes give you…health power!"

"No, they don't, but great job, Boone!"

Grinning, he grabbed her again and they got to the top of the milk spill. Boone stuffed the entire Kale wad into that hole. "All right!"

"Verge! Boone!" The two suddenly saw that Sashi was having a harder time with her job in getting the cap. She was drifting off towards a milkfall.

"Sashi!" they cried out.

"Verge, you got this right?" Boone shouted, diving in.

"Under control!" Using her protection magic, Verge stood on the hole, trying to push the running milk back into the dam. It didn't work out too great, even as she held on for a longer while than the Kale did. "Or…not!"

"Hold on, Verge!" At the moment she couldn't hold on much longer, Sashi and Boone took the cap and covered the milk up again.

"Yes!" The three cheered and gave each other high-fives.

But then they realized Penn was still in trouble. "We gotta help!" Verge shouted.

As they climbed up, they saw that the Milkman suddenly grew to a much bigger size. He was attempting to stomp on Penn as if he were a cockroach. "Get the jar!" Verge instructed. The two understood, heading off.

The Milkman chuckled at how small the elephant was. Verge tried using every last ounce of wing she got and conjured up some frost. "Hyah!" She punched the Milkman's leg, and it froze up.

"Now, that's not very nice, friend!" He kicked the fairy away, and she really couldn't fly now.

Verge was dangling by the dam's edge before she knew it. She didn't dare scream for help, but when she looked down, she tried not to scream.

Penn gasped, wanting to rush over, but the Milkman had to be dealt with. "Snackime's over, friend," the Milkman sneered.

Penn could only stare. "Zero! Verge yelled. "Milk! Helps you! Grow big!"

Those words were nonsense, but Penn understood. He smirked up at the giant Milkman. "Oh, yeah? 'Cause I'm still thirsty!"

He pounced again, and the Milkman caught him as expected. "Time to drink up now!" Penn placed his trunk in the arm and started to literally drink up now.

"Hey, friend, cut that out! C'mon, friend, let go! Help! It's gross in here!"

Verge managed to lift herself up enough to see what was going on. "Yes! Go elephants!"

Penn shot the Milkman back into the jar, where Sashi and Boone were there to trap him in. "Would you let me out of this bottle? I thought we were friends, friend!"

"The only friends I've got are the ones right here!" Penn immediately went over to completely help Verge and she let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm just glad we didn't end up _all _wet."

* * *

The next day, Rippen was walking over to his classroom, looking utterly disappointed. But not until he saw the surprise set out for him.

Larry was blowing a party tooter at his face and was grinning from ear to ear as he handed him something. "Congratulations! Teacher of the Month!"

Rippen stared up at the banner set out for him and the balloons all around. He glanced at Penn, Boone, Sashi, and even Verge, who was there in human form and her red vest, eating cake. "You-You gave me a good evaluation?"

"I guess it's true what they say," Penn said. "An elephant never forgets. If you remember I was an elephant."

"It might not be a 'Full Time Villain' hat," Verge shrugged. "But hey, just be grateful."

Rippen squinted his eyes at them. "Ah, it's…I see what you're doing. You're making me feel small with your 'generosity'. Very clever."

The four looked at each other and shrugged as they left the room. "Knew he wouldn't like it."

"Nah, Rippen's just too evil to share his true feelings," Boone said.

"Didn't seem that way when he told us about Vlurgen." At that, the four groaned.

"By the way, Verge," Sashi said. "How's that sweet tooth holding up?"

"Well, I'm still alive and eating cake, so, good?" The moment she said that, her eyes widened as she bit her lip. "On second thought, I'm gonna go home early, see you guys later!"

As she broke into a run, the three gasped at her. But then they slowly chuckled at their young friend. Guess even fairies can't hold sweets down for long.

* * *

**I've been working on a book lately, but I told myself to work on it once I finished all my fanfics. So, I best get hurry it up, right?**

**There I go again, getting off topic.  
**

**But omgods, speaking of topic, guys, did you see Owl City's new collaboration with Aloe Blacc? Check it out, he recently posted a lyric video. It's called "Verge" xD It's technically not about the fairy we know, but it's a song dedicated to the graduates of 2015. Just wanna say congratulations to those guys!**


	19. Verge the Human

**Special Episode: Verge the Human**

* * *

**I feel like all the special episodes I'm making are copyrighted - **

**Anyway, I just pulled together a random plot for this special episode so please forgive me if it sucks xD You can skip it if you want to. Short shout out to Lilla, I'm finally writing the next one! I'm just gonna take my time to work it out ;) **

**Read on, guys! Remember to rate and review~**

* * *

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and it was a perfect day of fetch.

"Fetch!" Boone shouted, throwing his tennis ball far up high.

"I got it!" Verge flew upwards and instantly caught it. "Haha! Who's got the moves? l do!"

"Nice catch, Verge! But are you ready for more?!"

"Bring it on!"

Boone picked more balls off the grass and started hurling them at her. Verge easily caught, threw back, and kicked them in the air. Once Boone was out of balls, she did a little loop of victory.

"The Verge strikes again!"

"Is this what you two call training?" Penn asked, walking up to them.

"It's also called just having fun," Boone said, tossing one ball. "But also, like, what if we end up in a world where all it can do is throw balls at us?"

"Yeah," Sashi scoffed, picking up another ball. "Like that's gonna happen. Verge, think fast!"

The fairy got surprised at the sudden throw but she was still quick. Once the ball was aimed for her, she punched it away. The other three stared.

Penn whistled. "Yep, you're ready for any ball attacks."

Verge grinned. "Good. Well, then let's get going! Don't wanna be late for work!"

She immediately flew out of Boone's garden, getting a head start on her way to the Odyssey. Her friends shouted their protests as they jogged after her.

Once they got to the Odyssey and stepped on the platform, Phyllis looked down at them. "Quick reminder. This mission could be very tough today."

"Hit us with your best shot, Phyllis!" Verge psyched. "We're ready to roll!"

"I warned," Phyllis reminded, zapping them in.

* * *

When Penn opened his eyes, he thought he didn't feel anything. They seemed to be in a forest, but he stared at himself and found his form barely changed at all. He was still himself. He looked over at Boone and Sashi and realized nothing changed with them either.

"Huh?" he questioned. "Is the MUT broken? It's like we barely went anywhere."

"Maybe we haven't," Sashi said gravely. "But Verge definitely did." The boys then turned and gasped.

Verge was on the ground rubbing her head. She still had her regular clothes, but she didn't have her fairy dust sparkle. In fact, she didn't have dust at all. Behind her, there was nothing. She had no wings.

She stared at her back for a while and started to scream.

"Verge!" Penn shouted, running over and trying to calm her. But the "fairy" wasn't listening. She was too busy yelling about how her wings were gone.

"Verge, snap out of it!" Sashi yelled, shaking her. That only made Verge shake her back.

"I can't fly! What will I do now?! I'm nothing without my wings, or my dust, or my nature magic, or—"

"_Verge_! Chill!" Penn took a leaf off a tree and pressed it to her face. "Breathe! That's right, inhale and exhale. Calm yourself." After a while, Verge finally relaxed. "That's good, keep that up. OK, listen. Yes, your wings are gone. But that doesn't mean you can't help out in the mission! We'll finish this as normal human beings, all right?"

She took a deep breath. "You're right, Zero," Penn grinned. "We can still do this! I don't need wings!"

"Except for, like," Boone said. "When you need to reach a higher ledge, or when you chase the bad guy in the clouds, or—"

Penn stuffed another leaf in his mouth. "That's the spirit! Now let's get this over with so we can get 'em back. Sash, check the Specs."

Sashi sighed in relief, now that her friend was stable again. "OK, today, we are in a world where everything is completely running on magic-"

Verge suddenly started hyperventilating at the word. "Whoa, whoa," Boone said, reaching into his pocket and bringing out one of the tennis balls from earlier. He rubbed it against Verge's cheek, hoping to calm her.

"...But now an evil sorcerer wants to take all the magic for himself. The only way to do that is to take down the source of all the magic, which is in fact, this forest. He has already taken the magic of those who live in the city. So our mission: destroy the sorcerer's staff of power and protect any more magic from being stolen."

At that, Verge got a determined look on her face. "He may have already taken my nature magic, but there's no way I'm letting him take the magic of nature! Let's fly!"

She tried taking off into the air...and ended up on her face. "This is going to take some getting used to." Penn deadpanned.

As the three helped Verge walk, Pwnn turned to Sashi again. "So, uh, where's this sorcerer's hideout anyway?"

"It's supposed to be in a dark cave, deep within the areas of the forest."

"Maybe if I fly up, I—" Verge started, but cut herself off and realized the truth. "Oh, never mind."

"Or maybe we can ask those guys for directions." Boone pointed forward, and they saw a bundle of white. The ball suddenly scattered to reveal cuddly bunnies.

"Awww!" Verge and the boys cooed.

"Oh, boy," Sashi said blankly.

Verge smirked proudly. "This is my area of expertise. Even without magic, I'm still the same animal lover!"

She steppwd forward and knelt at the bunnies, who smiled cutely at her. "Ahem, excuse me, forest creatures! Can you tell us where the evil sorcerer's cave may be?"

"Sure! We'd be happy to help!"

"Oh, that's good—wait, what?"

"What?!" the other three exclaimed.

"You guys can talk?" Penn questioned.

"Yep!" the bunny leader replied. He also appeared to be the wise one of the group. "In the Enchanted Forest, everyone that lives here can talk! Which includes the animals!"

"That's adorable!"

"And suspicious," Sashi said, narrowing her eyes. "How do we know you're not working for the sorcerer?"

The bunnies gasped. "Why would we work for the one that tries to destroy our home?" the leader said. "Once the magic is taken from us, we wouldn't be able to talk anymore!"

"Don't worry, woodland critters!" Penn said. "Your heroes have arrived! We're gonna make sure that sorcerer won't take this forest down!"

"Yay!" the bunnies cheered.

"The path to sorcerer's cave is just through those trees," the leader instructed. "But what can you magic-less ones do?"

"You don't need magic to take down a bad guy! Come on, guys."

The four of them started to walk away, but the bunny leader tugged Verge back. "Just a moment, wingless one. I sense you are not fully used to losing your powers."

"How did you know I was a fairy?" Verge questioned.

"I'm a bunny. We know things. Your magic may be gone now, but you can't let that get in the way of your duties. Emotions are a powerful thing. Control them, and you will soon touch the sky again."

Verge hesitated, but she knew he was right. It was weird taking advice from a rabbit, but it looked like this bunny knew more than just how to talk.

"Thanks," she said. "I'll keep it in mind."

Verge stood and started to follow her friends again. They continued to walk, until they soon came across a stream. "Doesn't look too deep," Sashi noted. "We can walk across."

"But I got my flip-flops on!" Boone protested.

"Again with the flip-flops, Boone!"

"We're not having this conversation again!"

"It's all right," Verge said calmly. "I can just dust y—" She stopped herself. No fairy dust.

Boone frowned at that. "Hey, it's fine. I'll walk."

"...Sure," Verge said, disappointed she couldn't be of help.

They easily crossed the stream and the heroes walked on. Every now and then, Verge would trip over her feet, apparently still not used to walking so long.

"You walk around school some times for the whole day!" Sashi protested. "How is this any different?"

"Correction: I sit in your school for the whole day. I watch, sometimes, I roam, most times I fly secretly."

"It's all right, Verge," Penn said. "We understand it's hard. But we're here to pick you up."

"Thanks, Ze—" Verge tripped on a tree root.

"This mission's gonna take a while." Boone commented.

Suddenly, the heroes stopped walking when they saw a crowd of animals gathered around something. They seemed pretty freaked out about it. The four exchanged looks and went to see what's happening.

The animals looked up at them and gasped. "Humans!" a deer exclaimed.

"Begone!" a frog grumped. "There is no more food for you here!"

"Hey, we're not here to eat you guys," Verge said calmly. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Look!" The animals pointed and the heroes saw what all the fuss was about. There in the center was a fish. And it was gasping for breath.

"That fish is going to die!" Penn cried out.

"Are you animals crazy?!" Sashi exclaimed. "It needs water!"

"We're not dumb! We know that!"

"Hold on!" Verge said, prepared to help an animal. "I can use water magic to save him!" But before her friends could stop her, she held her hands out. No water was summoned nor came out.

The fairy got a really disappointed look now. She couldn't do anything without her magic! She felt completely useless.

Penn noticed this and put a hand on her shoulder. "Wait!" Sashi said. "I think I have a water bottle with me!"

She reached into her pack and got her bottle. She spilled its contents on the fish and it started breathing properly again. It got on its tail fin and the animals cheered.

"You saved me!" the fish said happily, gazing at Sashi. "Thank you!" At that, Verge got sadder.

"Our forest magic is slowly disappearing!" an owl hooted. "The fish soon can't stand on land anymore and the birds soon can't swim in water anymore!"

"Isn't that how it's normally supposed to be?" Boone questioned.

"Not in this forest! Please, if you're wandering heroes, hoping to slay the evil sorcerer's staff, we insist you stay and rest so you may plan your attacking!"

"Why, thank you," Penn said. "We appreciate it!"

It was getting dark. The animals laid out logs for them to sit on and prepared a fire. Boone and Sashi went to collect water while Penn and Verge started sharpening sticks. They didn't really have swords but daggers with them, so that was their best option.

Penn winced when he had a hard time with his. "Sharpening branches is harder than I thought," he laughed lightly.

But Verge was chuckling. She was sadly sharpening her branch, staring at it, as if she were a robot. Penn frowned. He knew what the problem was, but he still went and asked.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"Don't give me that. When a girl says nothing's wrong, there _is_ something wrong. You told me that, remember?" At that, Verge had to smile. "Come on. We're best friends."

Verge stopped sharpening and sighed. "Isn't it obvious about what my problem is? I'm so useless. I can't do _anything_ today! You guys had to _help _me _walk. _I don't have a problem, I _am_ one."

"Verge…you know that's not true."

"Yeah, OK, name one thing I helped out with today," Penn opened his mouth but nothing came out. "That's what I thought. I'm _nothing_ without my magic, Zero." She stood up and turned away. "I'll only bring the team down…"

Penn stood and put a hand to her shoulder. "Look, I know it's been hard without your wings – we admit, you've been through that before but this is worse - but that doesn't mean you still can't be the same old Verge as you were before. You still don't need magic to do things. If you could just—"

Verge interrupted by shrugging him off. Penn held back a gasp and a disappointed look. Verge never turned away from him. She wouldn't meet his eyes. Penn tried to speak, but Verge shifted.

"I'm taking a walk."

Penn couldn't stop her. She disappeared from the light and into the trees. The young boy could only watch her leave.

Just then, Boone and Sashi arrived, carrying water containers. "Where'd Verge go?" Boone asked.

Penn forced himself to smile at his friends. "Oh, uh…she went for a walk. But she said she'd follow us to the sorcerer's cave, so we can go ahead."

"Well, that doesn't sound like Verge."

"There's no time to think about whether it's Verge or not!" Sashi said, throwing Penn his water container. "We have to get a move on! The sorcerer plans to destroy the forest by midnight! We have to get to his cave fast!"

Penn nodded slowly. "Sashi's right," Maybe Verge _would_ meet them there. "Let's go."

They put out the fire and held their new sharpened sticks. The three advanced into the dark.

The cave wasn't that far after that. The three hid behind bushes as they peeked at the dimly sorcerer cave. They heard Rippen's laugh coming from out of it. It seemed like he was in the middle of brewing his potion to destroy the forest and take its magic.

"OK," Penn started. "Here's the plan: we sneak in, mess with him a bit, destroy the staff, and boom. Mission accomplished as always."

"Let's do this!" Sashi said, smiling slyly.

The three quietly tiptoed into the cave. They jumped behind a rock and peeked to see Rippen. He was laughing as he stirred a liquid in a cauldron.

"This potion will guarantee take all the magic of the forest!" he sneered. "And soon after that, I take over the world!"

"Not on my watch," Penn whispered. "Boone, you take Larry. Sash, distract Rippen. I'll get the staff."

The team nodded. They each got into position. Rippen stopped stirring, yelling at Larry to shut up from telling some story about soup.

Then Penn gave the signal.

With a yell, Boone clutched his spear and flung himself at Larry, catching him by surprise as he held him down. Rippen turned to look, but ended up with Sashi jumping on him too. While she hit his head and practically attacked him like an animal, Penn searched around for the sorcerer staff. Rippen screamed, trying to get Sashi off him. The staff was nowhere to be found.

Until Penn saw it in the cauldron. His stirring stick.

This was his chance. He reached out, his fist enclosing around it…but was also grabbed by another hand.

"Looking for something?" Rippen sneered. He threw Sashi off him and started playing tug of war with Penn for the staff. "Let go!"

"No, you let go!"

"You're not getting in the way of my plans again!"

Rippen cast some sort of spell with the staff and Penn ended up flying backwards, his back hitting the cave wall. "Penn!" Sashi shouted, running for him, but Rippen cast another spell, sticking her to the wall as well.

He laughed, casting one more spell on Boone, throwing him off Larry and sticking him by Sashi. Penn gritted his teeth in anger. He quickly stood up and charged at Rippen again.

But Rippen had one more spell. He grinned evilly, held his staff out, and froze Penn mid-run. He couldn't move. All his actions were controlled by Rippen. And he was enjoying it.

"Did you really think a magic-less one like you and your friends could defeat me?" Rippen laughed sinisterly. "I caught you now! I actually have a chance to win. You're not stopping me again!"

All Penn could do was stare in horror.

In the midst of all this happening, Verge was sitting by the stream. She was staring at herself, frowning at her wingless reflection. She sighed and clawed at the water. The stream rippled, until it gave way for a new reflection. Verge looked beside her and saw the Wise Old Bunny.

"Is this what happens to fairies when they lose their wings?" he asked. "Because I'd have to keep that in mind."

Verge only sighed. "What do you want?"

"To talk. What did I tell you about your emotions?"

"I can't help it, OK? What can I do, Mr. Bunny? I'm a wash-up. I can't do anything right without magic. I had my friends complete the mission without me."

The bunny hesitated. "Well, did they say you were a useless, magic-less person?"

"Well…no—"

"Then you should've listened to them. Sometimes, facts aren't always based on what a person does. It's also based on what a person will believe he can do. "

"I thought those were opinions?"

"What I'm saying is that a person can never figure out the real truth unless he really wants to do his best in succeeding. The lie is always the first thing that can be seen. But the truth becomes clear unless one continues to dig deep for the answer."

Verge's eyes widened slightly. "So…in retrospect, you're telling me to don't give up?"

"You just ruined a perfectly good quote."

The wingless fairy chuckled and patted its head. "It was a good quote. Now I just realized not only am I a powerless loser, but a complete jerk. I left my team to fight Rippen alone."

"It's never too late to change your mistakes."

"But what can I do? My friends haven't accomplished the mission by now! What can three magic-less humans do against one completely overpowered sorcerer?"

"The truth will be clear if you continue to dig deeper."

Verge hesitated. The bunny's words struck her. Which means he was right. But how was she going to fix this mess?

"If I'm going to do this…I guess I'd probably need some help."

"Oh, yeah, we figured you would." The Wise Bunny smirked.

Suddenly, Verge heard a rustling in the bushes. She heard more in the trees. There were even ripples in the water. All the forest animals came out of their hiding and walked closer to Verge. She stared in awe at how many there were. And they all wanted to join in the fight.

"This is our forest, lady," the Wise Bunny said. "It's our magic he's taking. Just give us the word and we'll follow it." All the animals nodded in agreement.

At that, Verge had to smile. "Thank you all," she said, grinning. "I won't let you down. Because I have a plan."

Meanwhile, Rippen stood before his cauldron, continuing to stir his potion. "Just a few more minutes, and the potion will finally be done!" he laughed gleefully. "Then all the magic will be mine!"

Meanwhile, Penn, Boone, and Sashi were hung by their wrists on the wall, watching all this happen. Penn sighed as he faced his friends. "I'm sorry, guys. I got us into this."

"Don't blame yourself, PZ," Sashi said. "It was a good plan. He was just too powerful."

"Well, it really looks like Rippen's gonna win this time…"

"What about Verge?" Boone asked. "She's coming, right?"

Penn looked to the ground and frowned. "Verge was too depressed earlier. She blames herself for not being able to help out today. And I couldn't help her."

"But that doesn't mean it's all your fault!" Sashi protested. "Verge will come around. She always does. But she doesn't count on you to always be there for her. She doesn't always like putting the blame on you. So you better do the opposite."

The young hero sighed. "Thanks, Sash. I just wish…well, I wish Verge could see reason."

"It's too late for her to, anyway," Rippen sneered, joining in their conversation. "My potion is complete!" Rippen took a vial and scooped some potion into hit. He proudly held up his new mixture up high. He laughed out evilly. The heroes glared down at him.

Rippen exited the cave, hands up high. "Next stop: the Enchanted Forest!"

"Hey, old man!"

They all turned to find Verge there, clenching both her fists as if ready to punch.

"Verge!" her friends exclaimed.

Rippen only laughed at her arrival. "Oh, look! A young, little girl!"

Verge smiled. "At least _I'm _young! Have you _seen _your beard?"

The sorcerer gritted his teeth and held his staff out. "So, you don't really have any magic to take…But do you have any last words before I obliterate you?"

"No!" Penn yelled.

But Verge only smirked. "Nothing much. Just this."

She opened her mouth, and made a perfect animal sound: _"Cock-o-ro-cko-ro!"_

The rooster call echoed out. The sounds waves clattered, sounding out through the forest. Everyone was silent, waiting for what would happen.

And that's when they felt the ground rumble. "Earthquake?" Larry asked.

"No," Rippen said, infuriated. "Much more than that."

Suddenly, there was a flash. A flock of birds had flown in, screeching as they attacked and scratched at Rippen's face. "Gah!" he yelled, flinging his staff as he tried hitting them with his magic.

"Don't worry, Rip, I got ya!" Larry called out, trying to shoo the birds away.

"Go fish!" Verge called out.

That's when the fishes appeared. They jumped right onto Larry and started slapping his face with their fins. "Wha—Hey! Naughty fishes!"

"Come forth, my deers!" The rumble in the ground grew louder as a herd of deer came barging into the cave, knocking over Rippen's potions and sorcerer stuff. Which included his cauldron of potion. One deer finished it off by bumping Rippen, making him drop his vial onto the forest floor.

"Yeah!" the heroes cheered.

"Stop!" he yelled. "No!"

Rippen finally got the birds off him and clutched his staff. "I'd had just about enough!"

A blast of magic burst out from his staff, aiming straight for Verge. She quickly took out a mirror she had with her out from her pocket and the energy blast bounced off it. A bunny with another mirror quickly held it up and the blast bounced off again. Finally it bounced off another bunny's mirror, and finally hitting the chains that restrained Penn, Boone, and Sashi.

"Go, Verge!" Boone cheered.

Rippen glared back at the fairy. She took away the mirror and brought out her dagger. She pointed it at Rippen. "Your magic days are over!" she declared.

The villain smirked. "And what's _that_ little thing going to do?"

"This!" She brought the dagger down, and everyone realized she used it to cut a rope. The classic rock trap fell over Rippen, smashing him into the ground and forcing him to let go of his staff. "Ow!"

It rolled across the forest floor and at Verge's feet. "Bunnies?" she called. "You know what to do! Hop to it!"

"Hyah!" White furry little balls of cuteness jumped onto the staff, scurrying and clawing and biting at it. Once they moved away, the staff was nothing but bits and pieces.

The staff pieces started to glow dissolve into blue mist. It was released up into the air and spread out through the forest and around the city. Verge could almost feel the magic coming back to life.

"Hooray!" the animals cheered when they all felt like they could talk again.

Penn and his friends also felt magic in them. "Whoo!" Penn cheered when he felt themselves float in the air. "So this is what it's like to feel alive!"

Verge looked up and smiled when she saw her friends having fun. Oh, if only she could join them. And that's when she remembered. She slowly turned around, praying they would be there.

And they were. Her wings were back.

She gave them a little test. Open. Close. Float. Flitter. Flutter. Fly. Before she knew it, she was back in the air

"_Yes!" _the fairy laughed out loud. She started flying around, doing little loops. She had never felt so free and thankful. "I am _back!"_

"Hooray!" the forest animals cheered.

Even her friends cheered. "All right, Verge!" Boone hooted. "You go girl!"

Verge laughed as she flew with them. Penn grinned and flew forward. Verge sighed but looked him in the eye.

"I'm sorry," they said together.

"Don't be, Zero," Verge said quickly. "It's all my fault. I was a real jerkwad today. I knew that I couldn't do much without my magic. And I really thought it'd be better if I left the team to be out of your way."

"Verge—"

"But that's fine! Because I realize now…that with friends like you, I can believe I can do anything. And I would do anything for you guys." She grinned. Penn grinned back.

He flew forward and hugged her tight. Verge was surprised but she hugged him back. Boone and Sashi smiled and the four did a group hug.

"Quadruple fist bump!"

The forest animals below them continued to cheer. "Thank you, brave heroes!" the Wise Bunny called.

Verge waved at them. "Thank you, forest critters! You really saved the day!"

"It was nothing!"

The blue flash appeared, and the quartet team was zapped back to their dimension.

* * *

Verge was sitting in Penn's bedroom, holding a tennis ball, and leaning against her roommate's pillow. Boone had given it to her right after they finished the mission. She'd finished dinner early and wanted some alone time to herself. She couldn't stop thinking about how grateful she was now that she had her magic again.

There was a knock on the door and Penn's head poked inside. "May I come in?" he asked.

The fairy chuckled. "You don't have to ask. It's your room."

Penn smiled as he went inside and sat beside her on the bed. He was already dressed for bed and ready to catch some Zs. "Rough day today, huh?"

She sighed. "Yep. I'm never going to live that mission down."

Penn patted her shoulder. "Remember, Verge. Wings or no wings, magic or no magic, you'll always be our best friend and fairy guide. Nothing is ever going to change that."

Those words made Verge smiled widely and wipe away a tear. "Thanks…"

The boy smiled back and rubbed the back of his head. "Do you want to share my bed tonight?"

Verge blinked up at him, a little shocked, a little curious, but she nodded anyway. "That'd be nice."

Penn got into the covers, careful not to trample over the fairy and tucked them both in. Verge chuckled lightly as she faced her friend.

"Don't go human size in the middle of the night."

"I was nine! I couldn't have known I could do that!"

Penn only laughed. "Good night, Verge."

Verge smiled as her eyes fluttered closed. "Good night, Penn."

* * *

**I'm still having a hard time believing the next episodes will be coming out in June crai**


	20. I'm Still Super!

**Episode 16: I'm Still Super!**

* * *

**This was another favorite episode of mine. It mentions twins, which I have one myself as some of you may know, and it mentions fighting. I fight with my twin sometimes, but I'm pretty sure he's not gonna be evil…**

…**at least I think he won't.**

* * *

On a completely regular day, the part-time heroes were walking over to their part-time jobs. Verge didn't even bother wearing her vest this time as she flew, small-sized, around her friends, just enjoying the freedom.

"Keep that up and someone will see you," Sashi warned.

"Oh, let them. I just still can't get over not having wings!" Her friends rolled their eyes at her playfully.

Suddenly, Verge bumped into a large human. He grumbled and swatted her away. "Pesky mosquitoes…"

The fairy couldn't control her flying and Penn ended up catching her. "Hey!" he called out. "Watch where you're going."

The human only glared and raised an eyebrow, continuing his walk as if Penn were nothing. "Weirdos…"

"You didn't have to do that," Verge said, opening the door to the Odyssey for the three.

"Of course I had to," Penn insisted. "We're always there for each other no matter what, remember?"

The fairy only blinked and smiled as she followed them inside.

Unfortunately for them, as they looked around the cinema, their mechanic was nowhere to be found. "Phyllis?" Penn called, but they got no response. "Phylliiiss? Hello?" Still nothing. "Huh. Weird. She's never late for work?"

"Do you think she was finally abducted?" Verge asked. The three looked at her. "…Let's spread out."

Penn looked inside a trashcan. "Phyllis?!" Nothing.

Sashi smashed a hole through the wall and checked there. "Phyllis?" Nothing.

Verge checked the roof. "Phyllllliiiissss?" Nothing.

Boone checked the inside of a coffee cup. Nothing. "She's not in here either,"

Giving up, he collapsed on a cinema chair. "We've looked in all her usual spots."

But then Boone screamed when a tube opened up in the chair he was sitting, flashing lights and music coming out of it. And so was a Phyllis.

"You're having a party?" Penn realized, frowning. "And you didn't invite us."

"No," Phyllis said slowly. "No party." A balloon suddenly appeared, and she quickly popped it. "Speaking of something else, today you're going back to Superhero World."

"Oh, boy," Verge laughed lightly. "Here it comes."

Penn was already flustering and staring in awe. _"Ohhh!" _

"Super power!" he cheered as they got zapped in.

* * *

"I'm baaack~" Penn sang as he started flying around. "Oh, yeah!"

As he landed back on the ground, he smirked as his muscles. "Did you miss me, boys?" He suddenly started "inflating", causing more muscles to appear on his body. "Wait for it…" And his face.

Penn poked his arm, which seemed to have a smiley on it. "Yeah, I missed you! I wuv my widdle bicep!"

He suddenly stopped when he saw Sashi staring at him. "Ahem. Your skunk powers are cool too."

Verge appeared before him, flying upside down again in her Golden Wing costume. "Wouldn't get so cocky if I were you," she advised. "I feel like there's something really wrong with this mission…."

"There you go again, saying there's something wrong with this dimension."

"But I was right last time, wasn't I?"

"It was our mission! How would you even know how bad this one's gonna be?"

"I dunno, I don't tell you everything!"

"Hey, sweetie!" They suddenly turned to find a certain someone waving at them.

"I remember her!" Sashi piped as they waved. "It's regular-sized Giant Old Lady!"

"See, Verge?" Penn said. "She must wanna thank us for saving her last time."

Boone frowned. "Then my psychic powers must be broken. It's like she's thinking—"

"_Destroy the heroes!"_

The four gasped as the Giant Old Lady turned large again and used her cane to flick Penn away.

"Oh! Still working! She wants to destroy us!"

"Looks like she's not the only one," Penn noticed as he landed back with them.

The superhero citizens were gathered before them, and they looked ready for much more fighting.

"We're gonna mop the floor with ya!" the Janitor sneered.

"Super-fast!" the Speedster added.

"Now, that doesn't make any sense," Verge mumbled.

"Spatu-later!" Spatula Man threw his spatulas at Sashi, but she merely dodged them.

"Get your fireballs while their hot!" the hotdog vender shouter, spitting fireballs.

Up in the air, Penn dodged them as Verge attacked right back with her waterballs.

"Why are these good guys acting like bad guys?" Penn asked.

"Beats me!"

"I dunno!" Boone cried, hovering away. "But I'm pretty sure this flying dog ate asparagus!" As the Super Dog chased him, Verge turned.

"Boone, watch out!"

Too late. He bumped into the Old Lady's cane and she picked him up. Sashi climbed up and flicked her ponytail.

"Eat stink, Grandma!"

The Giant Old Lady got grossed out, dropping Boone. He screamed as he fell to his doom.

"Oh, yeah. I can hover."

"Good for you," Verge rolled her eyes. "But they're still—"

"Hey heroes, think fast!" The Speedster suddenly appeared, zooming around them as she tied them in chains.

Now, they had nowhere to go.

"Kiss my bunions!" the Old Lady shouted, lifting her foot. The four prepared for the worst.

But suddenly, an electric jolt came out of nowhere, zapping the Old Lady. She started to faint, and fell over the rest of her comrades. They screamed as they got trapped underneath.

"Lucky break, huh, guys?" Verge asked.

They turned to have a look at their savior, and out came one certain hero they knew didn't change. "Oh, hey, look everyone, it's that guy who takes a very long time to say his name," Penn noted.

"_~Captain Super Captain!~"_

The Captain released the heroes from the chains. His flying suddenly appeared just as quickly and landed before them. "Get in unless you want the Old Lady to wake up soon."

Without even questioning it, Sashi got inside and Boone sat on the roof. Penn and Verge just flew on their own. As they drove in the air, Penn turned to his sidekick. "Sash, check the Specs."

"All right, a super villain who invented a hypnotic medallion that he's using to turn all the heroes evil. Our mission is to destroy the medallion."

"Eh, Rippen should be easy to find! Just follow the scent of failure."

"This Rippen you speak of is not the villain in question," the Captain spoke up. "No, the villain you seek is as diabolical as he is drop-dead handsome."

Penn and Verge exchanged a look and slightly deadpanned. "Is he you?"

"No, he's my twin brother." **(A/N: Heh, my brother is also handsome. I mean, he did get his looks from me—)**

"Are you gonna tell us his name?"

"Yes, just give me a second…" He took a deep breath. _"~Professor Evil Professor!~"_

"_Much_ longer," Verge agreed, nodding at the name.

"So, Verge," Penn piped in. "Think you can find the location?"

"No need for finding," the Captain said. "There's the Professor's hideout! I can smell the villainy from here!" He sniffed the air and raised an eyebrow. "No, wait. That's tuna fish!" He looked out to see Boone eating. "Hey! That's my lunch!"

"Worry about your lunch later, Captain Super Captain!" Verge shouted, suddenly turning.

"_~Captain Sup—"_

"_We're under attack!"_

Penn gasped when he saw Rippen in his robot suit, shooting missiles at them. They managed to dodge them easily, gaining confidence. "Hah! You'll have to do better than that!" the boy shouted.

But apparently Rippen could. Four mechanical arms shot out and restrained Penn, clutching his hands and feet. "That was better. You know, I'm starting to see a lot of growth in you, Rippen." He grunted as he struggled to escape

"Zero!" Verge flying right for him.

"Hold on, chum!" the Captain called out, following beside her.

But then Larry came out, holding a box. "Peek-a-boo!" he said, opening it.

Soothing music started to play. Verge and the others were confused but the Captain gasped. "Great Scott! My one weakness: adult contemporary music! Aaaaaahhh!" He started to fall, an idiotic grin on his face as he still listened. _"~Captain Falling Captain!~"_

The fairy was focusing more on the fact her friends were falling. As Penn escaped on his own and went to save the Captain, she saved her screaming friends as the car was about to fall. Unfortunately, since she didn't have super strength, she couldn't have enough energy to carry it fully. Much less fly off.

"Hey, Penn!" Rippen sneered as he shot more missiles. "Is this a bridge too far?" He started to laugh evilly as the missiles hit the bridge and fell on the two.

Luckily, the hero was able to carry it. But Rippen had already taken advantage of Verge and took her and the car with the mechanical arms. "Don't worry, Penn Zero! I'll take good care of your friends!"

"Let us go!" Verge shouted, struggling to break free.

"More music, please!" Boone added.

"Zero!"

He couldn't go after them, with the bridge he had to worry about. They were out of his sight before he could even do anything. _"No!" _Penn yelled.

"You'll never get away with this!" Verge spat at Rippen.

"But, my dear. I already have." Rippen suddenly had an injection in his hand, and he stuck it in her arm before she could do anything.

The fairy screamed at the pain of the serum he gave her, but once it was all gone, she stopped and blacked out. "Verge!" Sashi cried.

"Oh, relax, she's fine." The villain took the fairy's limp body and handed her over to Larry. "We've got bigger plans for you two."

The next thing they knew, Sashi and Boone were restrained to two chairs and were seated on the top of some kind of machine. Sashi glanced over at the boy. "Boone, use your mind-reading ability to warn Penn he's about to walk into a trap!"

But he only grunted and gritted his teeth. "This adorable fashion-forward helmet seems to be blocking the signal!"

Down at the machine, Rippen groaned. "Larry, you promised you weren't going to put bunny ears on my things anymore!"

"Who said it was me?" the parasite asked innocently.

Rippen deadpanned when he saw his entire suit surrounded by bunny heads. He quickly shook it off, but then someone decided to join the party.

"Fun's over, Rippen!" Penn declared.

The villain only sneered. "So funny you should mention fun." He pressed a button, and a blanket covering the machine dropped down to reveal itself to Penn. "Welcome to the Funhouse…of Doom!"

When Penn looked up and saw his friends, he got into battle stance. "What are you gonna do to them? And where's Verge?!"

"Your little fairy is not important right now. Wouldn't you rather want to see how your friends will die?"

"…Is that a trick question?"

"It's simple!" Rippen pressed another button and launched a dummy into the machine. "Your friends will slide into a tub of acid. Then they'll be disintegrated by a disintegrator ray, and then re-integrated by a re-integrator ray! And then tossed into a cage of hungry meerkats. Finally, they'll be thrown into a compactor, and pressed into decorative cubs that make marvelous paperweights!"

"Simple, what are you talking about? That's extremely complicated."

"OK, how's this for simple? Once I press the button, you'll only have time to save one of them. Boone or Sashi. Sashi or Boone. Not both. One."

Penn clenched his fists. Verge definitely had to wait. "Well, my partner super partner will save the other one!" He looked around, but no one was there.

"Is that a fact?" He turned to find the Professor and his evil superhero army behind him. The Captain was being held by the Giant Old Lady.

"Suzanne, how could you?" he cried. "I sang at your son's wedding!"

"It's OK, PZ," Sashi said. "Save Boone!"

"Normally, I'd argue. But it would be cruel to deny dear, sweet Sashi her final wish!"

Penn gritted his teeth. He didn't know what to do…normally, Verge would give something, but she wasn't anywhere near him…

"Actually, boy, I have a third option," the Professor sneered as he pressed another button. Mechanical arms appeared from beneath Rippen and restrained his robot legs. The villain gasped when ray guys appeared as well, aiming right at him.

The Professor handed Penn another remote. "Destroy your enemy. And I'll let both your friends go free." Penn stared as he took it and hesitated. "It would be so easy to just press a button."

Penn could feel himself slipping in to the medallion's commands. "It would be so easy to press a button…" he repeated.

Captain Super Captain's voice rang out. "You're a hero! Fight his hypnotic power!" Rippen could only gasp at what Penn might do.

His own words to Verge ran through his head. _'We're always there for each other no matter what…'_

"Ah…no, no!" He finally snapped out of the trance and threw the remote away. "I won't play your little game!" He used his laser vision to completely destroy the control.

But Professor Evil Professor only laughed. "Foolish boy! I've got more buttons than that!" Penn gasped as the construction workers held him back. "Drop his friends!"

As Rippen leaned over the controls, he hesitated. He stared at the buttons, thinking about what he should do. This time, Penn was the one gasping.

But when Rippen pressed a button, the seats lowered themselves and Sashi and Boone were relaxing. It appears as if they were being pampered.

The Professor raged. "Ahhh, you fool! That was the spa button!"

Rippen glared back. "Well maybe you have too many buttons! Did you ever think of that?!"

This was Penn's chance. He struck the two construction worker's together and flew to restrain the Professor. _"~Captain Super Captain!~"_

The Captain also escaped from the Old Lady's grasp and shot an electric jolt at the medallion. Before the Professor could do anything, all the heroes snapped out of their evil daze.

"What just happened?" the Speedster asked.

"Holy chili dog, my head hurts," the hotdog vendor groaned.

"No!" The Professor pulled away from Penn and held up, yet another remote. "No one come any closer, or I'm pressing this!"

Penn raised an eyebrow. "What else have you got, Professor? My friends are free, the heroes are back to normal. What are you gonna do now?"

Unfortunately for him, the Professor smirked at his words. "This."

He pressed a button and suddenly, a hole opened up. Something was slowly rising to them, and a figure appeared. It had wings and they were golden. The head slowly lifted up and revealed Verge's stoic face. Everyone gasped.

"No," was all Penn could say.

"Maybe I won't be able to defeat you, but I'll gladly watch your best friend do it!"

At the Professor's words, Verge lunged at Penn. He gasped and flew upwards, but she only followed after him. "Verge!" he tried shouting.

But the fairy had given in to the serum. She conjured a blast of frost and shot it at the hero. He used his laser vision to deflect it, careful not to hurt her. "Snap out of it!" he yelled, flying off.

She didn't respond. As Penn flew away, she directed light to shine in his eyes. "Ah!" He lost his balance and almost fell, but Verge was able to restrain him now.

It didn't hurt when she punched him, but Penn felt his heart being squeezed. He grabbed hold of her wrists, staring into her eyes sternly. "Verge! It's me! Penn!"

She only used her feet and kicked him in the face. As Penn staggered, she conjured up a blast of water and shot it again. Penn flew backwards.

"Guys!" Sashi cried from below.

The boy quickly recovered and the two flew at each other. Verge punched him again but he caught her fist again and managed a punch at her face. That seemed to bring Verge back a little. But he didn't dare try it again. "Come on! It's _me!_ Zero! Your best friend!"

The two were falling straight downwards, Verge continuing to glare at Penn. "You have to fight it! Remember this?!"

Time seemed to stop when Penn held his finger out. He saw Verge's lip quiver and she bit into it. She gritted her teeth as she held her head.

"We're always there for each other, remember!"

The fairy's eyes snapped wide open, now completely back. They slowly fluttered closed, and she let go of Penn, now falling backwards. Penn quickly caught her and they floated back down.

"Gah!" the Professor shouted in fury. He was distracted as the police officers suddenly came and took him away. This time, he gave in as the police officers proceeded putting him in the jail truck.

"Take good care of Shelly, brother!" he called out to the Captain, who apparently held the turtle.

"See you at Hannukah, Clarence!"

As Penn finally landed, Verge groaned as she woke up. "Verge!" Sashi cried.

"Ow…"

"Hey, Vergie," Penn greeted.

The fairy realized the position they were in and quickly got off his arms. She stared at the ground sheepishly. "I'm sorry…back there…"

"Don't be. You couldn't fight it. It wasn't your fault."

"Still…I've never felt so useless…you know, besides that one time I lost my wings—"

"It's OK. Really."

"I promise it'll never happen again."

"Let's hope so." Penn sighed and held his finger out again. Verge scoffed and tiny fist bumped it.

"We're always there for each other, right?" Boone piped in. The two stared and all four of them laughed.

"Still…I'm glad you guys are safe from the Funhouse," Verge added.

Sashi nodded. "That was close."

"Yeah," Penn said, eyeing the controls. "It's a good thing Rippen couldn't figure this thing out! Or else you guys would be…goners."

Suddenly, Penn saw a certain button on the controls, in a black and yellow square, all big and red, with the label "Destroy Heroes" underneath it. "Huh. There's no way he could have missed that."

The four exchanged a look. "Weird," Verge muttered.

Sashi raised an eyebrow. "You don't think…"

"Penn Zero!" The heroes turned as they saw Rippen being taken away. "I shall not rest until the day I see you utterly destroyed!"

As the friends stared, they merely agreed on one thing. "Nah."

* * *

**I'm glad you guys liked the latest chapter :) And yes, I heard the next PZ ep will be out in June 1, and following that is on June 8. I hope this chapter was good too!**

**Also, just in case anyone didn't see my earlier note, you can find the drawings of Verge on this deviant link: **

**Lol yeah you might have to type it. Remember to rate and review~**


	21. Balls!

**Episode 17: Balls!**

**I hope some of you like Harry Potter 'cuz I just made a reference! :) Read and enjoy~**

* * *

Election day. The day of making a serious choice that decides whom you would want for your class president. And Penn decided to run. Verge prepared to listen intently at her best friend's speech, tugging at her sleeveless vest. Boone and Sashi were sitting at either side of her, also listening. Verge couldn't vote, seeing as she wasn't even a student, but she could bet they couldn't wait to do so. As they sat on the stage, Penn cleared his throat to speak his very brief and implausible speech.

"Why should you elect me your class president? What do I bring to the table?" He smiled as he gestured to his friends. "Well, my friends and I have a secret job that's more important than any of you could possibly imagine!" Even his own team was confused as much as the crowd was at what he'd just said. "I can't even tell you one thing about it. So, I humbly ask you to blindly put me in charge, and trust that I'll make the right decision."

Despite their shock, Boone still pulled the rope on cue and Penn's presidential poster hung on the stage. Everyone was _still _confused.

"He's not joking, is he?" Verge whispered to Sashi. She shook her head, not sure herself.

"_Penn for president!"_

* * *

"I only got two votes!"

Verge made a "tsk" noise as she sat on his shoulder. The results just recently came in and they were on their way to that "secret job". Verge flew of his shoulder and shook her head. "This is what you get for making speeches like that."

"Hey, I thought it was pretty good."

"Next time, ask _me_ to make your decisions."

Penn frowned and turned to Boone and Sashi. "I voted for myself, so which one of you didn't vote for me?"

The two got all guilty and frowned at him. "It was me." Penn and Verge had to raise their eyebrows at the unison replies.

"I voted for you buddy!" They turned to see Alex, the new class president, skating right by. "I believe it's wrong to vote for yourself!"

Penn glared as he whizzed by. _"Wak, wak, wak," _Verge said in a sad tone as she opened the door. "Can't really tell if that was a burn or not."

"He's so righteous!" Sashi agreed.

Boone sighed. "I would follow that guy to the ends of the earth…"

Penn only groaned. Verge patted his shoulder in comfort. "If it makes you feel any better, I would've voted for you, Zero!"

The boy grinned proudly. "Thank you, Verge."

When he walked ahead, Boone and Sashi raised an eyebrow at her. "...Yeaaahhh, not so much."

As they stepped onto the platform, Penn called out, "Hey, uh, Phyllis? You think I'm a good leader, right? Stupid question, I know, it's just…I dunno."

Phyllis hesitated, talking slowly. "Yes, pretty good…pretty not great, but better than, eh…"

Zap.

* * *

"_Ah! What happened to my feet!" _Boone shrieked as he fell on his head.

Sashi only deadpanned. "Calm down! None of us has feet. Or legs. Or arms. We're balls."

"I never understood how ironic the word 'football' was until now."

"Well this fairy can never lose her wings!" Verge zoomed past them, almost tipping them over, showing off her speed. Once she stopped, they saw that she was as small as she usually was, but she couldn't grow any larger. Her wings were still golden and a little bit longer and off to the sides. The rest of her golden engraved, ball body seemed just as delicate. She landed to the ground slowly, grinning proudly.

"Pretty sweet, huh? I'm a Golden Snitch!"

"Golden Snitch?" Sashi questioned.

"Yeah, you know from Harry Po—" She cut herself off when her friends stared, confused. "…Um, never mind. Check this out!" She concentrated, and retracted her wings back into her body. She untracted them back out.

"That _is_ awesome," Boone agreed, grinning. "Wish I could do that!"

They then turned their attention to Penn, who seemed to be a bouncy tennis ball. "Whoa! Ha! Well, I dunno about you guys, but I'm having a—"

"Please don't say ball," Sashi interrupted.

"I was going to say baby."

"You're having a baby?"

There was silence. "…Maybe. We don't know what our mission is yet, 'kay?"

"Something to do with balls, obviously," Verge said, flying fast again.

"Check the Specs."

"That bouncy thing looks like fun!" Boone piped. "Let me try!" But as soon as he bounced, he only ended up rolling away. _"Ah!"_

Sashi rolled her eyes, rolling forward. "Moving on! All right. Evil sports equipment hunters have been hunting balls for sport. Now there's only one herd of balls left! We have to teach the balls to protect themselves and save the ball species from extinction."

Penn and Verge stared, dumbfounded as they exchanged nervous looks. Penn closed his mouth. "Sounds easy enough." They turned to Boone, raising eyebrows.

"I can't stop spinning!" he cried.

Annoyed, Sashi rolled herself onto him, and he screamed as he flew off. _"And the extra point is good!"_

Verge sighed. "I'll get him." She quickly flew towards Boone's direction. A moment later, she returned with him in her mouth.

"Wow, a Golden Snitch is quick," Penn commented.

"I'm a Snitch for a reason," she said proudly. "Anyway, I saw the herd's location from way over there. Just keep going south."

"All right, let's roll!" When Sashi glared at him, he chuckled nervously. "You know, get on with the mission?..." He cleared his throat and they headed off.

As they saw the herd, they gasped as they looked around. It was beautiful. There were many different courts for each sport you can name. The balls looked so peaceful, as they rolled around, having fun. They had no idea how much they were in trouble. Then again, most of their mission victims didn't.

"Come on," Verge said, flying right over. Her friends got a determined look, rolling right over, even when it took a while for them to catch up.

"Greetings, ladies and gentleballs!" Penn announced. "Hunters are on their way to wipe you out, sadly.

All the balls gasped. _"Sacre-balls!" _one ball gasped. "What the dingar is he talking about?"

"What is going on, I don't understand!"

"The good news," Penn continued. "is we are here to train you to defend yourselves! Just trust us, and you'll all be OK!"

Boone bounced up. "We are offering a variety of classes, ranging from 'Bite Like you Mean It' to 'Tripping: The Art of Being Under-foot'."

"Hey, ya'll!" an eight ball called out. "If the tennis ball teaches us how to fight back, we can finally live in peace and _forget about it!"_

Penn grinned. "That's the spirit!"

"Stop rilin' everyone up!" The balls looked upward to see a pink bowling ball on top of some stairs. She must be the leader. "Someone's bound to get hurt!" She bounced off the stairs, causing cracks in them, and rolled right up to the heroes. "Powerful hurt! Ya'll from not around these parts."

Penn could only glare as she continued. "So let me enlighten you, fuzzy…Our herd led a downright carefree life. Before the hunters came 'round these parts." She started sniffling. "They took out of my Beach ball Grandpappy…Ever since that tragic day, we balls decided to scatter, instead of fight back."

The heroes only frowned at her story. Verge tried rolling away the tears. "That is so sad…I can't imagine…"

The Bowling Ball looked up, on the verge of tears. "Have you ever seen anyone you care about deflate in front of your eyes?"

Penn and Verge found themselves exchanging a sad glance. Penn shook his ball head. "You know, I can't say that I have?"

The eight ball rolled up against the bowling ball and she smiled. "Come on! Let's promenade home!"

The eight ball sighed. "Sorry, tennis ball. Heroes come in lots of shapes, but I guess round ain't one of 'em." Those were his last words as all the balls rolled away.

Penn seemed to get frustrated. "Ugh, forget them! We'll just beat the hunters ourselves!"

"But that's not the mission!" Sashi protested. "We have to teach the balls to defend _themselves."_

"But they won't even listen to us!"

"Then we'll just have to make 'em," Verge said.

"What? How?"

Before she could reply, dark clouds started to envelop the sky. A thunder sounded out, signaling a rainfall to come around soon. The balls gasped and rolled off screaming as it began to pour.

"Lucky for me, these wings can get wet and still work," Verge smiled, still flying.

"You can't just scatter away from your problems!" Penn yelled at the balls.

"Uh, maybe we should scatter to that shelter over there," Boone suggested. "I don't want my leather to worn."

"No scattering! _No! Scattering! _I'm holding my ground!"

Suddenly, a lightning bolt came out of nowhere and hit Penn. His friends gasped, and they saw his charred tennis ball face. "OK, maybe a little scattering."

Once they were safe from the rain, Verge shook the water droplets out. "Look, Zero, maybe you should call your parents. They would know what to do."

The ball lit up (and not just from the lightning). "You're right! They always know what to say. So, uh, how do I get my MUHU…"

"I got this." Verge rolled over and took the MUHU behind him in her mouth. She turned the device on, and Brock and Vonnie were immediately there to reply.

"Oh, hi Verge!" Vonnie called.

"Hi, Mrs. Vonnie!" Verge said. "Pretty busy there, huh?" It looked like they were trying to decide which wire to cut. And it seemed like the choice was fatal. The clock was counting backwards, setting a bomb.

"Yeah, but we always have time for you and Penn!" Brock said. "Look how cute you are! All golden and tiny."

"Your wings are adorable!" Vonnie commented, smiling sweetly. "Golden Snitch, am I right?"

"Yes! Thank you! But, uh, right now, we're having trouble. Zero's not a good leader."

"Hey!" Penn protested.

"We're having a ball crisis. We're on a mission."

"Mom? Dad? We need the balls to get them to trust us, so we can teach them how to defend themselves. How do we do that?"

But instead of answering him, Vonnie only seemed to get "cuted out" by Penn as well. "Who ever thought a tennis ball could be so handsome?" she cooed.

"Mom!" Penn rolled his eyes.

Brock chuckled. "He doesn't want to hear that from his mother! Sashi, tell Penn he looks good."

"Dad!"

"He's round," the soccer ball said bluntly. Pen raised an eyebrow.

"I'll say it," Boone put in. "He looks amazing!"

He took a giant whiff of him, causing him to shriek slightly and fall upside down. "Ah! What's wrong with you?!"

"And he smells fresh out of the can!"

"What about you, Verge?" Vonnie asked, raising one eyebrow knowingly.

The Snitch exchanged a glance with the tennis ball, and he hesitated, raising an eyebrow as well. It's a good thing balls couldn't blush. "Well, he sure is fuzzy," she commented, turning her friend back over. "And tennis balls are cute."

"Aw. Thanks. Not so bad yourself." Verge could only chuckle.

Back to the topic of the matter, Brock turned to his son. "Penn, if you want other balls to believe in you, then you first have to inspire these balls to believe in themselves!"

He turned and finally cut the blue wire, but that only seemed to run the time. "Uh-oh!"

"Gotta run, you two!" Vonnie waved.

"Inspire the balls!"

As the explosion exploded at their faces, Penn turned the MUHU off. "I need to find a way to improve myself in front of these balls!"

"Hey guys! I want to sign up for your classes!" They turned to see a white ball from earlier, rolling up to them. "Tell me I did not miss the registration deadline!"

Suddenly, they all heard something. The waterfall seemed to be overflowing, causing a large wave. It was heading right for them. Before the ball could roll off, it washed him away.

"_Waaahhhh!"_

"Guys!" Verge cried out as she flew for the ball. Her friends rolled right behind her.

The ball's little screams could be heard from the ball-resting place. The entire herd woke up and gasped when they saw their friend in danger.

"Yo!" the eight ball spoke up. "We gotta do something over here!"

Unfortunately, everyone was still hesitating. Angered, the eight ball tossed himself at the river, pushing the white ball out of the way. He was safe now, but not much luck for the eight ball.

"Yo, guys, now I need your help!"

"Zero, look!" Verge pointed at a tree, which was consisted out of volleyball net leaves.

"Come on, follow me, I have an idea!" he announced.

The eight ball screamed as he neared the end of the river. Penn and Verge flew/bounced up the tree and took an end of a net. "Grab the other end!" Penn shouted at Boone and Sashi. The duo went over to the other side of the river.

Once the eight ball came, they dropped the net, catching him in it. As they reeled it, the other balls gasped at such bravery.

Unfortunately, not even a tennis ball and a Snitch were strong enough to pull at one end. Penn started to slip, and he found himself into the water with the eight ball.

"Zero!" Verge gasped, quickly flying over to Boone and Sashi's side to help there. She took the net in her mouth again. "Come on, guys, pull!"

"_Sacre-balls!" _a ball gasped. "We cannot just do nothing! _Viva Rescue Operasyon!"_

"Come on, mates!" another encouraged, and they rolled over.

Soon, the herd was there to help pull, and it made things easier for the heroes. Penn and the eight ball were back on the land before they knew it. As they panted in relief, all the balls cheered.

Verge flew over to her friend and they grinned. "Yeah!" Penn cheered, bouncing up for a fist bump. But then he got confused. "Uh, how do we do this…"

"Use our heads?"

"No, that'll…"

After shrugging it off, they just went with bumping themselves against each other. "All right!" Verge cheered.

"Thank you for saving my life!" the white ball thanked the eight ball.

"_Forget about it!"_

"OK, time to pump up some balls!" Penn said.

"Knock 'em dead."

He bounced up to a rock and cleared his throat. "My fellow balls, lend me your…ears? Ear? I dunno. Whatever you hear with. OK, look, there's another storm coming. A storm of hunters, who think us balls are easy prey! I can't fight them on my own, but I promise, if you follow me into the battle, as sure as the Great Sun Ball rises behind me, we will _rise_ to victory! Future balls of all shapes, sizes, and bounciness' will be able to live in freedom doing whatever they want, which will be a limited proposition because they'll be balls. But still! They will be balls! Balls…balls…balls…"

"Balls…balls…balls…" the herd started chanting. _"_Balls! Balls! Balls! _Balls!"_

"_Enough!"_ The pink bowling ball suddenly rolled up to them, and she had an angry expression on her face. "I will not dishonor the final words of my Beach Ball Grandpappy just because some slick-talking tennis ball thinks he's _ball that!" _

She started to roll away, but the eight ball stopped her. "Where're you rollin', yo?"

The ball started to cry. "I'm leavin' the herd. I love you, but I just can't be a part of this! It's just…not how I roll!" She kissed the eight ball's head and rolled off.

"I'll never _forget about you!" _the eight ball promised.

Only Verge seemed to be moved to the pink ball's words. She turned to Penn, who had already bounced off the rock. "Hey, Zero, you got all this covered, right?"

"Uh, sure," he said, confused. "But what are you gonna do?"

"I don't tell you everything." With a wink, she flew off.

The pink bowling ball didn't roll far. Verge quickly found her, and got her to stop. "Hey, hey! Don't be so irrational, Miss Bowling Ball! You have to think about your herd!"

"I'm sorry, Little Snitch," she said sternly. "But I've made up my mind!"

Verge bit her lip. "Look, I don't know what it's like to lose someone…but I know what it's like to almost come to it. Everyday, I fight alongside Zero, hoping that nothing bad would ever happen to him. I would blame myself if he ever got hurt. I was separated from my family. But then no sooner, I got a new one. And I vowed to protect them no matter what, to make sure I don't ever get separated again." The bowling ball still hesitated. "I know you're sad about your 'grandpappy' deflating…but what about the other balls you love? They're fighting not just for themselves, but for each other. Where are you in the scene?"

That seemed to strike the bowling ball's heart. She started to cry again and Verge sat atop her big pink head.

"You're right, Snitch…I've been very foolish."

"Yes, you have."

"Is there any way to turn back?"

"Well, there's one thing you can help with…" Verge told her a little plan.

Later on, it was time for the battle. Verge returned to her friends, and they were all ready. Rippen's golf cart had finally arrived, and they were ready to attack. "Where did they go?" he questioned. "Everyone out, check for tracks!"

That was the cue. Penn bounced up and over Rippen, smirking down at the racket. "Tennis, anyone?"

It was on.

"After him!" Rippen demanded, and the sports equipment hopped off.

But Penn was only the distraction. The marbles came rolling in, and rolled under the equipment. They tripped, and fell to the ground, groaning.

"Now!" Penn cried. "Attack!" The balls let out a cry as they rolled.

"Get up and stop them!" Rippen yelled.

"Balls! Balls! Balls!" There were hitting, rolling, shooting, and stepping, but the balls pulled through. They chanted their cry, as they fought right back at the hunters. They didn't give up, and they certainly didn't give in. The sports equipment was starting to get worn out.

"This is fun!" Larry cheered, as the marbles rolled him off a cliff.

Verge was having her own amount of fun. She was flying around in her super speed, causing the hunters to get confused, and finding themselves hitting at nothing. Some of them even passed out from that.

"You always bet on eight!" the eight ball cried as he rolled. His body hit the other balls, causing them to scatter. The hunters shrieked as they each got hit by the balls.

"I did not sign up for this!" a hunter cried out. His friends agreed and they retreated back to the golf cart.

"Come back!" Rippen demanded. "You have to do what I say, I'm the boss!"

"You may be the boss," Penn said. "But you're not much of a leader."

The part-time villain soon found himself surrounded.

Rippen panicked, getting really frustrated. He bent down and picked up the nearest ball, which appeared to be the eight ball. "Everyone back off! This is how it's going to work! I'm going to walk out of here with the eight ball! Any sudden moves, and I'll serve him into a tree! He'll never get out!"

"Getting thrown into a tree is not much of a threat," Sashi said.

"I wouldn't be too sure," Boone said nervously.

They looked up to see a tall tree completely littered with ball skeletons. A hawk-like sports equipment was picking at an eyeball. The heroes gasped at the sight.

Rippen was already starting to back off. "Everyone just stay cool…"

Verge glared at the villain, but her eyes lit up when she saw a certain bowling ball appear. _"Baaaaalls!" _she shrieked, rolling down.

"_No!" _the villain yelled, as she bounced through his net face. The eight ball was let go, and he was more than delighted to see the pink bowling ball.

"Ah, I thought I'd never see yous again!" he cried. When Verge winked at the bowling ball, she had to smile.

"Oh, yes, my dearest. I was blinded by my stubbornness! I hope you can forgive me and, _forget about it!"_

All the balls started laughing loudly. For a really long time. Penn, Verge, Sashi, and Boone exchanged looks of confusion.

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**Wooo I get to post my favorite ep tomorrow! Remember to rate and review guys~  
**

**Also, this is a big favor, but if any of you like Star vs. The Forces of Evil, be sure to check out my Starco fic! I'm halfway done with it, though I'm pretty sure I'll be on hiatus for about a week then... Anyway, I'm hoping for more readers and reviewers, so if you like the show go check it out! Please and thank you :)**


	22. The Princess Most Fair

**Episode 18: The Princess Most Fair**

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**Heeeey finally it has come to my favorite episode! Mjzero06, I know you like this one too! Here it is ;)**

**Just a little note guys, all the Italized words are the singing parts, but I suggest you still read them as you do. Especially when it comes to Verge's lyrics. But, if you want to try singing along, go ahead! I won't stop you. I just hope you enjoy and remember to rate and review~**

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Another torturous day of school. And what's worse to experience that torture at Rippen's art class. Everyone was tasked to make their own piece of art that in any way may define them or may actually relate. That was just an excuse for Rippen to comment and give them all low scores.

"Dreadful…atrocious…ah! Splendidly reprehensible." The girl he commented on smiled excitedly. "…That still means terrible."

When it came to Boone's turn, he cleared his throat, standing beside a draped object. "They say the best art tests the very limits of beauty and truth. Well, prepare thyself, for I give thee…the pigoilet!"

He unveiled his masterpiece to reveal a stone statue of what looked like a pig's head with a toilet body. Once everyone saw it, they all burst into laughter. Especially Rippen, who seemed like the loudest of them. Penn frowned at that.

"F triple minus!" he shouted with glee, scribbling the grade. "Hm, that felt good."

As Rippen walked on, Boone could only cover his art in disappointment.

After school, when they got to the Odyssey, where Verge was waiting, she raised an eyebrow at what Boone carried. He had brought the pigoilet with him, and started fixing it up in there. Phyllis spoke up first when she saw it. "And what is that."

"It's a _pigoilet_, Phyllis," Boone retorted. "'_That_' is a work of art."

"It's just a pig with a body of a toilet," Sashi replied bluntly.

Boone scoffed, dusting his statue. Transforming smaller, Verge sat on the boy's shoulder.

"If it makes you feel any better Boone, I think it's awesome. I mean, an animal combined with a human object? That's my style."

"Aw, thanks Vergie," he said and smiled a bit. Then he turned to Penn. "You like my pigoilet too, right Penn?"

The red-haired boy rubbed his shoulder. "Well Boone, the truth of it is…I love it!"

With that, his friend had to smile.

The four finally turned to the MUT and Penn frowned. "Hey, Phyllis? What's with the pitch-black abyss of nothingness? It just looks kind of alarming."

"I am glad you asked," she said. "Makes more fun for me when I send you without telling."

With a push of a button, they got zapped.

* * *

"_Oh, where am I?" _Verge sang, looking at herself. They appeared to be outside, but why was she wearing boy clothes? She touched her head, and her pigtails were gone, replaced by slick brown hair. _"Why do I look like a guy?"_

"_Hey, Verge, take a look at this dress!" _Boone called. He indeed looked like a girl, but there was something that alarmed her. He was slowly floating up in the air.

"_Oh, wow, you can fly?!"_

"_Isn't that amazing?"_

"_Well, maybe so to you."_

"_Wait, why are we singing?"_

"_I guess that's what we're supposed to do? This world is weird, I don't like it all."_

"_But hey, look that's not all!"_

Boone suddenly brought out a magic wand and pointed it at Verge. That caused a little bounce, helping her snap out of it and fly up to him a bit. She sighed when she realized he had magic now too. _"I guess I'm not the only fairy this time."_

"_But let's look on the bright side! You don't have to be the only one flying in the air!"_

"_You have wings and a wand."_

"_And this gorgeous gray hair! Bur look, I may be the one with the cuteness this time. But with two fairies now—"_

"_The magic's twice the prime!" _The two looked at each other when they realized they'd sung in duet.

"…_Fine." _Verge sighed. _"Let's go find Zero and Sash, we can't waste all the hours."_

"_Look they might be trapped inside that tall tower!" _Boone pointed upwards, and Verge wondered why she didn't notice the building that was right beside them. Maybe the singing messed with the fairystincts.

"_Come on, Verge, let's go fly!" _Boone lit up. _"That's something I've always wanted to say!"_

"_Let's reunite our quartet and once again save the day!"_

Together, the two fairies dashed upwards.

Penn and Sashi _were_ there, luckily for them. Sashi was a knight, and Penn was a princess. On normal occasions, she would start laughing out loud. But she couldn't help staring at Penn. At first they didn't seem to notice them, because they seemed to be in conflict of something.

"_So, should I be more like you, stubborn and obsessed with decapitation?!" _Penn asked furiously.

"_What you call stubbornness is actually determination!" _Sashi snapped.

"_They're fighting again in this situation." _Verge said bluntly.

As the two fairies flew right in, Boone sang out. _"Let's stop with all this arguing…ation!"_

Verge raised an eyebrow. _"I don't think that rhymed, Boone."_

"_That's why I added –ation, Verge, you spoke too soon!"_

When Penn looked at Verge he found himself staring as well. _"Verge, I never thought you'd look like a cuter dude."_

"_Well, Zero, as a girl, you look kind of pretty too."_

"_Did we actually sing about what we both think we do." _The two stared in confusion, a little embarrassed.

"_Let's stop this silliness and get back to business!" _Sashi interrupted.

"_Doesn't anyone realize, I look like a sensation?" _Boone cried.

"_Sashi is right!" _Verge agreed. _"This world sucks, but let's focus on the mission!"_

Penn nodded. _"Boone, Verge, we need to get that crystal? Can you get us out of here?"_

Boone had to chuckle at that as he and Verge started pushing them out the window. _"Can I get you out of here? But, of course, my silly dears!"_

As they screamed as they fell, Boone grew two birds and they fell on them. _"I've got power to move the stars and moons, I got magic just bursting from my pantaloons!"_

Verge flew up to him, arms crossed and a raised eyebrow. _"You know, we could've used my dust, Boone."_ The boy only shrugged.

As they flew back down, Penn was looking at him sternly. _"We've got to get a move on, before the queen is turned to stone!"_

"_I know how to get us there, prepare your minds to be blown!"_

Boone waved his wand, and an acorn got turned into something else. _"The pigoilet." _Penn sighed. _"Ah, I should've known."_

As they hopped on board, the pigoilet started to direct them to the location of the crystal. Verge turned into a smaller fairy size and sat on Princess Penn's shoulder. _"Hey, Zero, there's something about this world that seems so very wrong."_

"_Well, yeah of course, because our feelings seem to be coming out in song!"_

"_I fear that sometime now my secret will soon be what I sing."_

Penn sighed. _"Oh great, you have more secrets?"_

"…_I don't tell you everything." _It was best to just leave it at that.

When they finally arrived at the crystal's location, everyone there suddenly started laughing. They were first confused at what, but then the answer became too obvious.

A soldier giggled at Penn. _"We do not mean to make you blush, it's just your ride truly is the royal flush!" _Everyone laughed harder.

Angered, Verge flew right over, glaring daggers into their eyes. _"How would you like me to turn your brains to mush?" _She may have been small, but they were sure threatened.

Boone huffed. _"Penn, could you tell these immature blokes that the pigoilet should not be the butt of their jokes?"_

The boy really tried to hold it in. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't hold back any longer.

"_The truth of it is, it stinks!" _Boone gasped a little. _"The truth of it is, it's ridiculous! I'm sorry I lied before, egad it's bad, is it a toilet…or is it a boar?"_

Penn brought some wild boar out from the bushes and it grunted. But Boone was furious. He decided to make a comeback, but Verge suddenly noticed the purple mist around. She tried singing up, but Boone beat her to it.

"_The truth of it is, you're jealous! The truth of it is, you can't handle this! Who's got all the glam, I do it's true, I pull this look off much better than you!"_

He used magic to turn Penn's nose into a twig, and he glared at the fairy at that. But Verge quickly flew over and shortened it out again, hoping he would listen now. But Sashi decided to sing in.

"_The truth of it is, enough! The truth of it is, you're both annoying me!"_

_Penn squinted his eyes. "Did you hear what she said, old friend?"_

"_Ah yes!"_

"_Looks like Sashi's annoyed again!" _The knight only rolled her eyes at the two.

Frustrated, Verge tried singing along. _"Can you guys please stop all of this arguing?"_

"_No, Verge, we still have much more to say!" _Penn replied.

Sashi glared a bit. _"Sometimes you don't listen at all, your actions cause the team's downfall—"_

"_Are you saying that it's all my fault?!" _Verge cowered a bit, flying back. It seemed interfering _now_ would just make things worse…

Boone looked at Sashi, hoping to defend. _"The truth of it is, you're mean!"_

"_Huh! The truth of it is, you're irresponsible!"_

Penn stepped back at the two. _"Let's let our dirty laundry air, you're kinda crazy, you're kinda lazy!"_

"_Yeah, but you sleep with a teddy bear!" _Penn gasped at his friends' outburst, and turned away in embarrassment.

Verge cut the musical and flew right between them. _"Guys, all the things you say may be true—" _She cut herself off and gasped. _"But the sorceress is now here too!"_

They all looked up to see a female Rippen laughing down at them. With the crystal in his hands. _"Hahaha! Penn Zero sleeps with a teddy!"_

"_As Rippen does with a stuffed poodle named Freddy!" _Larry sang. The sorceress could only glare.

"_Attack, my tree children. Charge, destroy, smite! I think you'll find their bark to be far worse than their bite!"_

No matter how many slices, spells, and nature magic were thrown at the trees, they just kept coming back. One three scooped them all up and encaged them in its branch-like figures. Verge tried getting out through the holes, but the tree only blocked her way. Now as Rippen rode off with the crystal, the heroes were dangling helpless in their branch cage, struggling to get out.

"_Oh, to be foiled by trees," _Verge sighed. _"Doesn't sound so good to me."_

"_We still need to escape," _Penn sang. _"Any helpful suggestions?"_

Boone only glared. _"Don't look at me, I'm 'irresponsible', I can't even take directions!"_

There was a bit of silence. They all knew they didn't mean what they said to each other, but they couldn't bring the words to sing it. So Verge gave them a boost and started to sing slowly.

"_The truth of it is, it's this world we're in! You're letting all the things you're saying get to each other's heads." _They raised eyebrows at her._ "But if you apologize, say your true true feelings, guys. Why can't we all just make amends?"_

When they hesitated, she continued on. _"The truth of it is, we're the best team. And sure, all the things you said were true. We know we have our flaws, sometimes we can't get each other at all. But aren't we still friends no matter what we do?"_

Her little musical got cut off for a bit. Their eyes widened slightly at that and looked at each other. Sashi frowned a little guiltily. _"Boone, I didn't mean to call you irresponsib—Actually no, that's not true. I'm just sorry I did and that those words hurt you." _Boone smiled a little as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"_Look," Penn cut in. "We all said stuff while singing and versin', but that doesn't mean you're not a great wise man…um...person!"_

Boone smiled gratefully at him, but then frowned as he continued Verge's singing. _"The truth of it is, you're right! The truth of it is, I'm not the best wise man…but luckily Penn is near, and no fear, with Verge and Sashi here. You guys come up with a plan!"_

At that, Verge had to grin as she took Boone's fairy hat off and handed it to Penn, who also started singing. _"The truth of it is, I'm a jerk! The truth of it is who cares if your sculpture is gross?"_

Penn pointed it at the tree and Sashi blew at the little flag. It tickled the tree, causing him to laugh and drop them. _"You'll always be my pal, my friend, my bro. In Espanol, mi amigo!" _The boys hugged and Verge sighed happily.

Sashi then came up to them and handed the wand and sword over. Verge gave Penn Sashi's shield. _"The truth of it is, I'm tough! The truth of it is, I'm kinda mean at times!" _She kicked a tree down as Verge enveloped more in ice and tied some in vines. Penn cut a tree's arm, dropping it in front of the knight. _"You're the best of pals no doubt, but when Verge isn't around, I'm one-fourth of the quartet, sometimes left out!"_

Verge grew larger and Boone dropped Penn on Sashi's shoulders. The two fairies froze up the open land with ice as the princess and knight skated across it. _"The truth of it is, you're glue!" _Penn sang.

"_We stick because of you a perfect team of four," _Boone added.

Verge decided to cut in Penn, singing his lines, as the trees started to slip. _"Although you're tough as nails, you keep us on the rails."_

"_Making us closer than family and more!" _The quartet all smiled at each other.

Suddenly, the shield hit a bump in the ground, sending them flying off. Before they could hit, Verge managed to dust them all, sending them to the ground safely. They smiled, thinking they'd all made up, but Verge actually had more on her mind.

"_The truth of it is, it's not Sashi left out. The truth of it is, I feel like it's me. Sometimes I'm not always there, sometimes I feel like no one cares, sometimes I wish I wasn't a fairy." _The three frowned as Verge turned to the ice. _"The truth of it is, I'm the jealous one, of you guys and all the things that you have done. I feel like I don't do much at all, and most times it's 'cause I'm small. I wonder what would happen if I was gone…"_

If this was the secret Verge was talking about, Penn was glad he heard it. He walked up to the fairy and placed a hand on her shoulder. _"The truth of it is, you're the best! You always know what to do and what to say."_

Boone and Sashi decided to sing in. _"You may be small— But also tall!"_

"_You're the one that keeps us all, from fighting." _Verge had to smile at her friends' words.

Penn lifted the fairy up in the air, as the four of them began to fly. Boone flew by her right, grinning. _"The truth of it is, you're always by our side!"_

Sashi flew behind, as Verge brought them towards the direction of the sorceress' cave. _"The truth of it is, you're the best fairy guide!"_

Penn took her by the hands. _"You're always there to keep things fun."_

"_Divergent, you're number one!"_

"_But I couldn't be me without you guys," _The fairy grinning madly as she gathered her friends in for a group hug. They smiled as they hugged back.

But then the fairy dust lost its power. The friends all fell to the ground, screaming. Boone fell off with a thud, a crystal ball coming out of his pocket. Sashi gasped at what she saw through it. Rippen was so close to turning the queen to stone.

"_We've run out of time to save the queen!" _

"_My dust isn't so speedy!" _Verge sighed.

Sashi frowned. _"I'm feeling kind of blue-y…"_

But Boone was able to lighten their spirits. _"You've forgotten about the pigoilet! Zooey, zooey, zooey, zooey!"_

At that call, the pigoilet carriage came barging out of nowhere, skidding to a halt before the heroes. Penn and Sashi quickly got on, and they headed off.

The pigoilet _was_ faster than Verge's dust. They managed to get there just in time. Rippen had just placed the stone in his staff and sneered evilly as he turned to the queen. _"All right queen, are you ready to rock? 'Cause to rock you're about to be turned!"_

But then the quartet came to rain on his parade. Penn smirked. _"Rippen, your watch stopped at No-Laughs o' clock!"_

"_Oh dang! You just got burned!" _Larry smiled while Rippen glared again.

But then he grinned at his enemy. _"Penn Zero, you're here to see me win in the end! But, um, how did you escape?"_

"_With a little help from a friend!" _Penn gestured at the pigoilet.

Suddenly, Rippen got a surprised expression. He seemed to be in some kind of zone. _"Hark, what beauty a splendor is this? So pretty a toilet, with pig ears and more! As lovely a vision, I've seen once before! I was jealous of you pigoilet, just between us."_

"_Does this mean I get an F-plus?" _Boone sang happily.

Rippen rolled his eyes. _"All grades are final that you should have known. Now watch as I turn this queen into stone!"_

But just at that moment, Verge lunged at Rippen, covering his face by clinging onto it. He growled in frustration, clawing at her, making an opening for Penn. He struck the sword against the staff, causing it to aim at Larry's mirror body, and bounce back onto Rippen. Verge got off, and he gasped. But just before he got into a "Darn it" position, and became the one turned to rock.

Boone freed the queen from her shackles and Penn went over to her. _"Now that we've worked out our issues, we can finally set things right!"_

Sashi smirked at Rippen as they all walked away. _"This is what you get when you mess with a princess, fairies, and knight!"_

"_Thank you all for saving me," _the queen sang happily._ "I should reward you!"_

"_Don't you worry about it," _Penn replied, putting his arms over his friends' shoulders. _"It's the least this team could do."_

The four were smiling as they got zapped back home.

* * *

"I am so glad that's over," Verge sighed as they stepped off the platform.

"Pretty sure we're all glad," Sashi huffed, crossing her arms.

Penn also sighed as he turned to his friends. "Look, guys…I'm sorry for all the things I said."

The three looked at each other and smiled a little. "It's OK, PZ," Sashi said.

"We forgive you," Boone said solemnly. When Sashi nudged him, he added, "Because we're sorry too."

"You bet." Verge smiled at the red-haired boy and he had to smile too.

But then he frowned. "Verge, did you really feel that way back there?..."

They raised their eyebrows at the fairy and she chuckled nervously. She rubbed the back of her head, almost in guilt. "Maybe just a little…I mean…can you blame me?"

"We're always here, Vergie," Boone said, patting her tiny head. Sashi nodded in agreement.

"Nothing is ever going to come in between this team." Penn held his finger out. Verge laughed and bumped it with her fist.

"Now, let's get going home, huh?" Penn suggested. "That world was way too much for me."

"So, what do you think my name would be if I was a girl?" Boone asked, almost excitedly. "Boonella? Boona? Oh, I got it, Babe!"

"Does it matter?" Sashi grumbled, raising an eyebrow.

Verge laughed at her friends' antics as they continued to talk about genderbent names. Despite singing about all their true feelings, he could never ask for a better team.

She was at least glad her true secret never got out.

* * *

**WOOO You guys have to see my drawing of this episode it's my absolute favorite. But hey, the last episode will be posted tomorrow! A week after that, I'll be posting the brand new ones, plus the fourth special ep! Hope you enjoy this guys! Remember to rate and review~ :)**


	23. Hail Larry

**Episode 19: Hail Larry**

* * *

**WOOOOOO last ep!...for as far as we know! I had to post this early, because I'm gonna be pretty busy the next eight days. No time to write over here. But by the time I'm done being busy, as promised, I'll be posting the next new ep! Although I think I'm going to be patient and wait a few days after it's released before I publish the next chapter :) Still, let's all focus on this episode first and cherish the moment as we all read _on_. **

* * *

_Bleeeegggghhh._

What a horrible noise. Penn raised his eyebrow as Rippen was throwing up in a trashcan behind his desk yet again. Everyone else got grossed out, making a face of disgust.

This time, when the art teacher couldn't get up, Verge appeared through the doorway, eyeing him before scribbling something down. "Sixth time today, Rip," she said. "Best for you to get home!"

Rippen only glared as he forced himself to stand. "You're not the boss of me!"

The girl only raised an eyebrow and a piece of paper. Larry's signature was on it, and it had the principal's stamp too. "Special pass, remember?"

The part-time villain had to groan. Why did his minion have to be the principal?

He reluctantly took the slip and left the art room, coughing. Verge huffed and turned to the class. Penn gave a thumbs up. She had to grin back.

"For the rest of you…just take the day off."

She obviously had no idea what she just did. Seeing as art class being the last class for the students, everyone cheered and immediately piled out of the school. Penn laughed at that as he and Verge fist-bumped.

"That was awesome!" Penn exclaimed.

"I know! So, wanna get some ice cream until Boone and Sashi get out?"

About an hour later, after just being lazy and random, some complaints of not getting ice cream for them, and a fight over it on the way to the Odyssey, the quartet were now stepping onto the MUT platform.

Phyllis was welding a part on the machine, dangling, as she concentrated. Penn and Verge exchanged a glance. "Um, Phyllis? I'm pretty sure welding without proper face protection isn't safe…"

"You think I am dum-dum?" she said. "I wear mask." She then reached for her face and revealed she was indeed wearing one.

"You have a welding mask of your own face?" Boone asked.

"I have welding mask of everyone's face."

She pressed a button to reveal a rack of masks. They looked exactly like the quartet's real faces. Boone got creeped out and shrieked. "Now, I know that's now normal," Verge said.

"How did you make these?" Penn questioned.

"I take mold of your face while you sleeping," Phyllis smirked. "Good luck!"

The quartet stared at her suspiciously as they got zapped in.

* * *

Verge opened her eyes and saw darkness. But then she realized it was just the sky. They appeared to be in a cemetery. She looked at her clothes and found herself wearing a black and gold vampire-like dress with an outer collar. When she looked at Penn and Boone, they appeared to be scared out of their skins when they saw where they were.

"Well, this is terrifying," Penn noted. The boys shrieked when bats shrieked and flew towards them.

"You think so?" Verge asked. "They just wanted to say hi!"

"Verge, please."

"Where's Sashi?" Boone asked, clutching onto a gravestone.

But it wasn't just a stone. Sashi glared at the boys as she turned and revealed her hunchback. _"Ah!" _they shrieked again.

"There she is," Verge said bluntly. Boone could only stare, dumbfounded.

"Check the Specs, Sash, please," Penn said. "Hurry!"

Sashi squinted her eyes and started talking in a haunting voice. "Thousands of years ago, a terrifying evil Overlord put all of his power into his battle-axe, and used it to try to take over the world! But he was defeated, and sealed inside and enchanted coffin, then buried deep in this crypt near the center of the Earth."

"Ease up, Sashi," Boone said nervously. "You're scaring me…"

"You should be scared! The Overlord's army of skeletons found his battle-axe! And are gonna use it to free him from his coffin! We need to find it and destroy his axe. Because if he makes it out that door with it, it's game over for the world!"

There was sudden lightning, and a gust of wind, and Boone found himself in Penn's arms as they shrieked yet again. "Would you mind carrying me the rest of the mission?" he asked.

"Yes," Penn grunted.

"…Yes, you'll carry me, or yes, you mind?"

In response to that, Penn dropped him.

"Come on, you two!" Verge piped up, picking Boone up. "This will be fun! Like our usual adventures?"

"Fun?!" Boone practically shrieked. "Verge, what exactly is your definition of fun?"

"There's no use talking to her about it," Penn cut in. "Verge doesn't get human fears just as much as she doesn't get human jokes. She could practically be afraid of nothing."

"That's not true!" she protested. "I'm afraid of some things!"

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Hawks, for example."

"Hawks? Since when were you afraid of hawks?"

"Since the beginning of t—I don't tell you everything!"

"You took out a Hawkosaur back in the Dino-Cowboy World," Sashi reminded her.

"You have no idea how scared I was!"

Deciding it really was no use talking to her about it, the quartet ventured on.

The boys each took a torch to hold as they first started off at long, narrow path. There was a huge abyss underneath it. It looked like it was a long way down. _"Go baaack…" _a creepy voice whispered.

"Go baaaack…" It was just Boone. Verge raised an eyebrow at him and he grinned guiltily.

Taking a breath, Penn walked first.

No one said a word for a while. They just walked on, waiting for the path to end. Finally, they came across a rocky wall, in which they had to walk sideways to get across. Penn was chuckling nervously.

"What adventures we go on, huh?"

As soon as he said that, a pair of big purple feet took him by the arm and lifted him upwards. He screamed as he came in contact with two demonic faces. "Penn!" Sashi and Verge shouted.

The fairy flew upwards, kicking one demon in the face. Sashi used her dirty shovel and threw it at its head. Both demons shrieked and dropped Penn onto the ground. The girls high-fived.

But that wasn't the end of the rocky wall journey. The moment the demons left, bus started to crawl up onto the heroes. Scared out of their minds, they all ran for the end of the line, shaking the bugs off them.

"Ah! They're everywhere!" Penn shouted. "Ew, one got in my mouth!"

Verge appeared to be the only one "cuted out" by the critters. "Aww, it's OK, we like you too! We appreciate the welcome~"

Boone was only disgusted as much as the other three were. "Ewww, ooh, I hate bugs!" He suddenly found his friends staring at his back. "…What?"

He turned and saw the most humongous bug clinging to him.

He shrieked instantly and ran around in circles. _"Ah! Oh, get it off!" _Sashi hit the bug off and the boys ran away. "I don't wanna touch it, I don't wanna touch it!" The girls rolled their eyes at each other.

As Sashi left, Verge turned to see the bug crying. She pitied it, and started patting its head. "Awww, we're sorry! I'll make sure she won't hurt you next time!" The bug lit up and snuggled its head against hers.

The heroes then came across a lake. Verge found one boat big enough for three, so she shrunk to her small size as they all rowed across the water. They tried focusing on the paths ahead, but then something hopped out of the water.

"_Wha!"_ Penn then sighed in relief. "Oh, it's just a fro—" Nope, it was not.

There was a skull coming out of its mouth, screaming, and fire. Once they reached the shore, everyone quickly got away, walking as they waited for the smoke in their hair to die down. "A second face," Penn said quietly. "Who knew? Huh…"

Verge put the fires out of her hair. She'd been the only one unharmed, protecting only herself from the fire with her magic and forgetting the others. She tried making it up to them by splashing in some water.

"Look on the bright side, guys," she spoke up.

"We can't," Boone mumbled. "It's dark down here."

"No, really! Look! We're close to the coffin!"

"_Harum, tharum, sulta-ri…harum, tharum, sulta-ri…"_

The quartet climbed up a rock to see more than a thousand skeletons entering what appeared to be a bull-like cave. They were chanting some kind of incantation. _"Harum, tharum, sulta-ri…"_

The heroes tried to hold in their fear. They quickly snuck and had a peek through the window of the cave, hoping to stay hidden as the skeletons marched. _"Harum, tharum, sulta-ri…"_

"Look! There's the axe!" Sashi whispered.

It was almost too late for them. Two skeletons were bringing the giant weapon up onto the coffin. The moment they placed it there, purple sparks flew. The coffin rumbled, and green mist poured out. Along with a giant, demon-like figure. It roared as it came out of the coffin, making the heroes gasp. As the mist died down, it revealed…

…a yawning, red Overlord Larry. "Whoo! I am _groggy_! You know what would make this coffin way more comfy? Some rememberphone. That stuff's _amazing! _How's everyone doing today?"

In response to that, the skeletons looked at each other in confusion.

Even the heroes were confused. _"Larry _is the Overlord?" Sashi questioned.

"Rippen threw up six times in class today," Penn explained. "Larry must be subbing for him."

"Aww, Rip's minion really cares," Verge sighed. "But, if Larry wins this thing, that would mean he would be the full-time villain, right?"

"No, he won't be. Because the heroes always win first."

Penn pointed to the ground to see that Larry had actually just _thrown_ his source of power onto the ground. "OK! Let's get to know each other!"

"This can't be the Overlord," one skeleton whispered. "I know evil. This is not evil."

"Everyone say your name, and your favorite color!" Penn saw the chance and they all crept inside. "I'll go first! My name is Overlord, and my favorite color is…uh…I can't find one! I have so many! Um, let's see, I just love burnt sienna, but there's something about a classic yellow, and don't even get me started on indigo—Oh! Let's not forget primary colors!"

"This was too easy!" Just when Larry was blabbering on, Penn had already picked the axe off the floor and brought it back to his team. And Larry had no idea.

"Yep!" Sashi smiled, raising her shovel. "Let's smash this thing!"

But something made Penn hesitate. He looked at the skeletons, who were attempting to at least land one hit on Larry as he continued to talk. "Is navy a blue or is it black? Oh, sparkles! Is sparkles a color? Ooh, I just remembered periwinkle!"

"Oi," Verge groaned. "Who can stand to watch him chatter all day?"

Maybe Penn could. As Sashi raised her shovel, he stopped her. "Wait! Those skeletons are gonna break Larry in half if he doesn't stop talking about periwinkle!"

"…And we care because…?" Sashi said.

"Because, a part-time hero saves anyone in need! Even his enemies."

"Psh. Sounds like some part-time nonsense!"

"Come on! It'll be a cool twist on our normal routine!"

"I think you may be onto something, Zero," Verge said, sitting on his head. "It's a bad something, but it could be good. Let's try it."

"_Thank you,_ Verge." He grinned as they did a tiny fist-bump.

"Ugh, fine!" Sashi gave up, setting the shovel down.

"Great! We just need to help Larry save face for a little while."

"Here," Verge flew and handed Penn a rock. He grinned and turned around, throwing it at the red Overlord.

Luckily, he turned his attention to them now. "Hi, Penn!" he cheered, jumping off the stage. Just in time too, the skeletons were just about to pulverize him. "Man, you're rocking that ponytail!"

The boy cleared his throat, going into actor mode. "Oh, no! You caught us!" He only received a blink from Larry. "With the axe!" Blink. "…Hello? The axe you need to climb the steps and take over the world?"

"So you better take it back?" Sashi asked.

"Because you're sort of evil, and stuff?" Verge added.

"Why are we talking like robots?" Boone cut in.

Rolling his eyes, Penn finally gave a hint and handed the axe over. "Oh, thanks!" Larry said. "Did you notice how heavy this thing is?"

"Well, yeah, sure!" Penn agreed. "It _is_ made of stone! And evil."

Larry only giggled at that. "Hey, I'd like to introduce you guys! Skeletons, heroes. Heroes, skeletons."

"Hi!" Verge greeted, waving. A skeleton only growled and raised its knife.

"Seriously?!" Boone exclaimed. "You're not even afraid of _that?!"_

Ignoring him, another skeleton was speaking up. "Is not what I expected, but I guess he captured the heroes. Let's not pulverize him just yet."

"OK, gang!" Larry continued. "Let's keep getting to know each other and have some fun with a game of truth or dare! Me first. Dare, dare, dare, dare, dare!"

Penn didn't even have to hesitate. "OK, I _dare_ you, to lead your army to the surface!"

"Good one, nice! Minions, listen up! Everyone find a buddy! We're going on a field trip!"

As they all exited the crypt, Verge leaned over at Penn. "If we ever get a turn at the game, can I dare you to kiss Sashi?"

Instantly, the boy felt his cheeks grow hot. _"Verge!"_

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Before Penn could throw a punch or something, the fairy laughed and shrunk, flying over to Boone for protection.

It was hard to tell if she really meant it as a joke or if they really wanted them to…

The entire time, Larry could not stop singing. He was just making up silly little songs as he led the skeletons. _"~The prim bone's connected to the, nice bone. The nice bone's connected—" _He suddenly cut himself off when he noticed a larger gap in the path. "Oh."

"How are we going to go across, O Sinister Master of Darkness?" a skeleton asked.

"I dunno. Maybe we should just go home and order a pizza?"

"That's it." The skeletons started to charge again.

Penn rushed over and started tickling Larry's armpits. He giggled instantly, causing him to toss the axe in the air. A big column came out of the sky, landed on a skeleton, and made as a bridge for the group.

"Well done, Master."

"OK! Last one across is a rotten corpse!"

"How does Rippen put up with this guy?" Sashi grumbled as they continued.

"I don't think he does…" Verge muttered.

They were soon walking along a narrow path again. Larry started to sing once more. _"~I'll be working on the skeletons~"_

But then he got interrupted by a shriek. "Master, look!" A skeleton pointed at the giant demon bat.

"It's so cute!" Verge giggled, flying over to it.

"Boone, distraction!" Penn whispered.

"If you think this bat is huge," he started. "Look over there at that thing I'm pointing at which upon closer inspection might be nothing!"

Penn picked another rock up and was surprised to see Verge scratching the bat under its chin. It seemed to be enjoying it very much, but that was just another distraction for Penn as he threw it at its head. The bat had no idea and just collapsed to the floor.

Larry grinned as he patted the monster. "Aw, little birdie must be tired! You just rest a while!"

"Master has tamed the untamable beast!" the skeleton cheered.

"Give me some skin!" Larry high-fived it, only to end up with a pile of broken bones.

As they continued, Verge knelt beside the bat. "You didn't deserve it," she sighed sadly.

"Verge, come on," Penn said, picking her up.

By now, all the skeletons were singing along with Larry. _"~We'll be spreading eternal evil when we climb~"_

"Up the steps!"

"_~We'll be spreading eternal evil when we climb~"_

"Up the steps!"

"_~We'll be spreading eternal evil…"_

"Penn, Verge, we're getting close to the surface!" Sashi protested. "We have to stop Larry. Like now!"

"I know," he sighed. "But look at him! The giant…little…demon!"

"Zero, I'm with Sashi," Verge said, flying over him. "We have to act before anything else happens."

"Come on, Vergie. You have nothing to be scared about. Oh, wait, you don't." At those words, the fairy frowned a bit. "I mean, we'll stop him after the sing-a-long. Deal?"

The girls glanced at each other. "Fine!" Sashi sighed. "Deal."

Verge chose not to say anything.

They were finally closer to the exit. And the singing seemed to be getting louder. _"~Row, row, row your boat…~"_

"OK," Penn whispered. "When I say the word, Sashi you go left, Boone you go right, Verge you go upwards, and I'll go straight for the axe! Got it?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Verge agreed.

"Got it!" Sashi smirked evilly. "Let's crush some skulls! Literally!"

As Larry neared the light, his axe suddenly bumped against the floor. It started causing purple sparks again, and seemed to be giving Larry some confidence. "Ooh, pretty! Huh! Now that feels good! I got a move!"

He slammed the hilt against the floor again, causing a giant crack and more sparks. "Uh-huh! Yeah! Power!"

"_Now!"_

But before they could even reach him, skeletons started coming out from under the ground, restraining Penn, Boone, and Sashi, as they pulled them into the ground. "What's happening?!" the boy shouted. "Help! Verge!"

The fairy suddenly realized her friends weren't following. "Huh?" She tried flying back, using vines to hold the skeletons back, but the merely swatted them away. A skeletal hand also held Verge captive. Everytime she shrunk or grew, she'd only ended up restrained again. "No! Guys!"

"Verge!"

"That's it, Master!" a skeleton said. "Lead us to victory!"

"Yeah," another agreed. "You've turned into a really fun boss!"

"I like your songs."

That was enough to move Larry. "Aww, you guys! Thanks. Now let's get some fresh air, huh?" When Larry laughed, it wasn't like his usual, fun laugh anymore. It was darker, sinister, and much more evil.

"No!" Penn yelled. "No, no, no, no! This is not how it ends! This can't be happening! _No!"_

Verge was panicking now. Usually, she'd know what to do. She was the fairy guide. She needed to know. But now, she couldn't even save her friends. Slowly, she watched before her very eyes as they got dragged into the Earth. In her heart, that could only mean one thing.

Without even thinking, for the very first time, Verge shrieked.

A real, blood-curling, shriek.

That was enough to make even Larry, now at Overlord mode, turn around. "Huh?"

And _that_ seemed to be a distraction enough. Because there was a sudden flash, and a skeleton guard suddenly lunged himself at Larry. _"Nooo!"_

Once he was back at the bottom of the stairs, Larry looked up to see that skeleton holding the axe. "Yes! Yes, I have it now!"

The heroes recognized that voice anywhere. "Rippen?" Penn questioned.

"Yeah!" Skeleton Rippen flung the axe at a column, and it instantly broke. All the skeletons suddenly flinched, their bones now bursting into green flame, their remnants were carried away and back into the depths of the Earth.

"Rippen, you're feeling better!" Larry cried out happily, not seeming to mind the fact he was defeated.

As Verge quickly helped her friends up, Rippen seemed to be stomping on the dust of the axe. "Break, break, I'll smash ya, break, I'll kill ya, break!" You would think he was crazy.

"Whoa, holy overboard," Boone rolled his eyes. "I think you destroyed it."

"I have to be sure…Hahahahahaha! Yeah! Ha!"

Suddenly, Larry lifted Rippen in the air and started giving him a _bone-crushing_ hug. "I missed you so much! Mm!"

"Broooomance," Verge sang quietly.

"Help! Ah, help! Somebody help!" Rippen begged.

"Someone told me once," Sashi said. "A real hero saves _anyone_ in need. Should we help Rippen?"

"Larry, stop it! Ah, my bones!"

Penn and Verge exchanged one look at each other and smirked. "Nah."

* * *

Once everyone got zapped back, Boone couldn't help smiling. "I have never been more than glad to get out of a mission!"

"We were lucky about that last bit, though," Sashi mumbled. "I blame Penn for all this, by the way."

"Hey!" he protested. "I was just trying to help Larry out!"

"It didn't really work, did it?" Verge said.

"Speaking of things that worked, good screaming, Verge! We really bought the time."

"Ah, well, it wasn't…you know, planned…"

"You weren't scared of all the skeletons, were you, Vergie?" Boone teased.

"What?! No! I was…" The fairy looked at her friends and sighed. "I was scared of us failing. I mean, just one adventure with the four of us not achieving the goal would really break me. That's one of the things I'm scared of the most…"

Penn really couldn't do much this time but smile softly.

"Heh, yeah, and also skeletons," Boone smirked. "I finally know what to go as on Halloween!"

The fairy glared. "Boone! I'm not scared of skeletons!"

"That's what they all say~"

"_Wiseman!"_

Penn and Sashi couldn't help laughing at their arguing.

* * *

**Well, time for this Ridaa to get some rest. I'm going to take my time to relax, but I'll see you all in the next episodes! I promise you that ^^ You guys know the drill: please leave a review or a favorite/follow! It's really appreciated :) This reader is out. See you guys soon!**


	24. It's A Colorful Life

**Episode 20: It's A Colorful Life**

* * *

**Wooooooo the new episode came out early! I decided to start writing right away but I ended up posting this a few days later haha. I'm still a little annoyed with my stats but I'm trying not to be too disappointed. I know there are people out there who read this! **

**Also, I just want to say that I realize that I now realize this fanfic contains spoilers sometimes. It's all right, guys,you don't have to read them all the time anyway! I just want to entertain you with writing, is all.**

**So, I really hope you'll enjoy this chapter :)**

* * *

"Hmm..." Verge hummed as she sniffed the red roses of the flower store. "Yep, these should do nicely!"

"It's settled then!" Penn grinned as he gathered some flowers and paid the vendor. As he walked away with the bouquet, his fairy friend quickly flew over, transforming to human size.

"So, what do you want these flowers for, anyway?" Verge questioned, shrugging her red vest on, tucking her wings in.

Penn only smiled as he handed the roses over to her. "Just thought it'd be a little friendly gift for Phyllis. After all, we wouldn't be going on missions in the first place if it wasn't for her."

"Aww, how come _I_ don't get any flowers?"

The redhead laughed. "Because you can always grow them yourself at any time you want, dusthead!"

Verge nudged him harshly, but still laughed. "Well, that _is_ true."

Just then, they heard a ringing sound. Verge pointed downwards at Penn's belt to show that it was his MUHU. "That must be your parents." Penn lit up at the thought of that and answered the call.

_"Hi, Penn! Hi, Verge!"_

"Mrs. Vonnie! Mr. Brock!" Verge waved at the older Zeros cheerfully.

"What's up, Mom and Dad?" Penn said, smiling.

"Just thought it'd be nice to call you two up!" Vonnie responded. "It's been forever!" She smiled as she hit one volcano-looking monster with her hammer-like weapon. _"Yah!"_

"Ooh," Verge winced, still grinning. "That's gonna hurt in the morning! Beat 'em to a pulp!"

"So, how have you two been?" Brock called, advancing on another monster. "Any good mission stories?"

"Oh, oh! Just last week, we went to a monster dimension wherein we had to stop these ogres from completely taking over the dance floor! It was a literal 'Panic! At the Disco',"

Penn grinned at the memory. "Yeah! And we won the mission by body-slamming an eight-foot tall ogre! I guess he was only seven-six if you don't count his platform shoes."

Brock chuckled as he stood over a monster. "You know, you two, sometimes being a hero means going _beyond _the mission. _Rock Face Punch!"_

Vonnie came into the screen again, adding, "And making the world you're saving a better place."

"We'll keep that in mind, Mrs. Vonnie!"

She grinned and went to help her husband. _"Gyah!" _She hit the monster's foot, giving Brock the advantage to punch it once more. The monster screamed as it fell into the pit, making Penn and Verge grin at each other knowingly.

"You're amazing, honey," Vonnie told Brock sweetly.

He grinned back at her. "Only because I have you in my life, Vonnie."

_"Oh!" _He swept his wife off her feet and the two kissed passionately.

_"_Oh, gross..." Verge laughed nervously. "Sweet, but gross."

"Euh!" Penn gritted his teeth in awkwardness. "I'm gonna stop watching now."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" A white-bearded man suddenly came in a stopped him. "I love this channel!" Penn only stared awkwardly.

Verge rolled her eyes. "Bye, Mrs. Vonnie, Mr. brock. We'll talk to you soon!" With that, she turned the MUHU off.

"Awww..." the old man complained.

The fairy held the rose bouquet out. Penn quickly took a flower and stuffed it straight into his mouth. He literally shut right up. "Stop watching my parents!" he scolded.

The old man awkwardly walked away, spitting out petals.

Verge chuckled. "You're amazing, Zero."

Penn smiled at her. "Only because you're around, Verge."

The two paused when they suddenly realized what they just said.

"...Did we-"

"Let's forget this."

They finally arrived at the Odyssey, where Phyllis was waiting for them both. Verge gave him the bouquet and Penn proudly handed it to the mechanic.

"What is this?"

"Ah, just trying to make the world a little better- AH!"

The two practically screamed when they saw Phyllis getting thinner. "I am allergic to flower. I beg for mercy."

Boone and Sashi saw what happened, gasped, and dropped whatever they were holding. Sashi pressed a button on the wall. It was labeled "In Case of Flowers".

A siren rang out, and a metal ball came rolling out underneath the button. After doing some flips, Sashi grabbed the bouquet. "Hyah!" She stuffed the ball into it and threw it out the door.

Penn and Verge watched as it exploded.

"I-I was just trying to be nice!" Penn protested.

Boone and verge quickly helped Phyllis get onto her platform. Penn frowned. "Here, let me help."

Boone only glared. "I think you've done enough."

"Just drink plenty of water," Verge advised, taking her vest off and started flying around. "Take vitamins, use the emergency air tank at all times."

"Verge, why didn't you tell me she was allergic?"

"I don't tell you everything."

"Verge!"

"Hey, I really didn't know this time!"

Phyllis breathed steady breaths, nodding as she turned to Penn. "Is all right...my internal organ...will repair...in three month."

Penn frowned and groaned a bit at that. Verge quickly flew over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He managed a small smile, but not when Boone and Sashi were glaring at him.

"Good...luck!" Phyllis wheezed.

He looked at his friends nervously. "Again, so sorry about the flowers."

With that, they got zapped.

* * *

When Verge opened her eyes, she thought she was in Rainbowland. It _was_ something similar to it. The dimension was so lively, so colorful...so weird. It was hard to imagine, but Verge didn't recognize her friends the moment she saw them. She wouldn't have recognized _herself. _Her skin was gold, her nose was long, her long-sleeved shirt and skirt turned into a one-piece reddish-brown dress. Her blue shoes completed the outfit.

The quartet gasped at the new world. Suddenly, the townspeople came gathering around them, grinning wide smiles.

"Oh, what fun! What a wonderful day!" they sang, dancing around. "Hues are the hue-iest, the reddest, and the blue-iest!"

Some of them walked over to Penn and Sashi, who lifted their mouths into smiles. Verge and Boone were all right. "No one frowns in Hue Town today! Now the sun's all done, so let's goooo..."

"...Play?"

"Rhyme some more?"

"Pass."

"Something!"

_"Say yay!"_

The townsfolk danced around again, cheering and making random noises. "This place is so cool!" Verge squealed. "And cute!"

Penn raised an eyebrow at her. "You realize that just like half an hour ago, you were shouting at my mom to punch some volcano monster."

"Your point is?" Penn stayed silent.

Verge heard a grunt and looked over to see Sashi getting pretty annoyed. Thinking, she lit up when she saw some grass on the ground. She used magic to make it grow and orient a little and gave two pieces to Sashi. She grinned as she jammed them in her ears. "Haha! Better."

"OK, Sash," Penn said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Check the Specs."

"OK! We're Hues, who are in a feud with the Drabs, and our mission is to stop Grayson Drabswatch from stealing our Rainbow Rocks and throwing them into the Rainbow Mountain Volcano!"

"Oh, great. Another mission with rocks."

Verge frowned. "What do you mean, 'another mission'?"

"Don't you remember? We were- Oh, you were sick at that time."

"Hmph. Thanks a lot for reminding me."

"I told you about what happened, didn't I?"

"Not the same, Zero. Never the same. And so, Rainbow Rocks. Sounds...colorful."

Boone was looking at some suspicious-looking tree at the moment. "Guys...this tree is checking us out."

Suddenly, a local Hue dropped in, grinning at Boone's observation. "Tree Whee! Not a tree! It's a tree with a whee!"

Boone walked closer. "What's a tree with a _wheeeeee!" _He suddenly got sucked into the tree, riding through loops inside it, and coming back out through another. "That was fun!But we still don't know why they call it a Tree Whee..."

"Are you bluffing?" Verge asked, laughing. "My turn!" She shrunk to fairy size and dove through the Tree again, riding through it numerous times.

Penn only sighed in exasperation and turned to the local. "So. What's up? Why are you guys fighting with the Drabs?"

The local grinned proudly. "Us Hues are all covered in color! We're the best of the best! But no color Drabs look much duller! So color us unimpressed!"

The three looked at each other. "OK," Penn said slowly. "That's a weird excuse but sure. Verge!"

The moment the fairy came back out of the tree again, Penn took her by her little wings. "Hey!" she complained.

"Did you hear that? Come on, let's get to work!"

"Aw, fine," Verge said, turning back to larger size.

"Would you look at that!" the local gasped. "It's a Hue Fairy! We only see one of you rarely!"

Verge chuckled, grinning proudly. "Thanks. Yep. I get that a lot."

"No you don't."

"All right! Let's look for those rocks."

The fairy flew into the air, scanning the area. The other three caught up, looking up at her from a small hill. Verge saw the columns holding the rocks and went back to her friends to report.

"I see the rocks," she confirmed. "Let's just fly over there and-"

The sound of a rocket being launched interrupted her. It hit the Rainbow Rocks columns and they scattered into the different parts of the Town. The Hues all screamed and panicked, running around and making nonsense.

"Hey! Hello? _Hey!" _Penn shouted.

Luckily, they all stopped to turn their attention to him. "Uh, we have to get the rocks back?"

"Which is why I took note of where the rocks landed," Verge said, flying back to them again. "Our first nearest stop is the forest."

"Good job."

The Hue Helper came rolling back to them. "The Rocks hold the World's colors! Or it says so on that sign! Let's go get them back by taking the Zippy Zip line!"

The Hues started leading the quartet to some sort of zip line with a rainbow arch. They all got on as Penn and verge exchanged look. She shrunk and flew over Penn and he and the Helper also zipped down the cliff.

"I hope they're selling pictures of this at the end of the ride!" Boone shouted out.

Verge was scanning the forests, having found it difficult, since the green rock had landed there. But when she did see it, she quickly pointed it out. "Zero!"

Penn understood immediately and gasped. "Look, there's the green rock!"

The Hue Helper cut the zip line rope and everyone started to fall. The quartet, who was not used to this, screamed as they fell. Sashi flew straight into a tree, Penn landed safely in a bush, and Boone landed safely on top of him. "That was fun!" Boone cheered as Penn groaned.

"Ahhhh!" Verge fake-shouted, flying safely onto the ground with a flutter of her wings.

"...Really, Verge?"

Before the fairy could say anything, they perked up to the sound of a honk. It was the Drabs. Rippen, as Grayson, seemed to be riding what looked like a bicycle that carried a box and a tube. And he was driving it right for the rock.

"There it is!" Penn shouted, getting up. "Hurry!"

As the quartet ran over to it, the Hue Helper dropped in again. "The green rock is keen, the Drabs are so prissy! I don't mean to be mean, but Drabs walk like thissy!" He proceeded following the actions of a robot. "Clink-a-clank, clink-a-clank..."

"OK, the rhyming is starting to get on my wings," Verge grumbled.

Penn pushed the Hue away in annoyance and they ran for the rock again. Rippen only laughed. "Haha! The green rock is mine!"

"Let's celebrate, Drabs! It's snacky time!"

Rippen glared at the Drab Lieutenant, who had somehow gotten the Drabs to start a picnic. "No, it is not 'snacky time'!"

Penn grinned. "Huh! The Drabs stopped to eat! Talk about a lucky- Wait, what are you doing?!"

They suddenly turned to find that the Hues as well, seeing their picnic ways like a competition, and started preparing a _feast._ Penn stared in disbelief that the Hues could fall for such a thing.

Verge was also in shock, but not for much longer. She turned and flew for the rock, hoping Rippen was distracted. But he managed to pedal even faster than her flying. As Verge lunged in, Rippen was much quicker. He took the rock, laughing gleefully, as Verge ended up falling on her face. It didn't help when Penn fell right on top of her as well. And she was in her small size.

_"Zero!"_

"Wha-"

Penn stood halfway, but he wasn't really focused on that right now. He could only stare in horror as the green rock found its way through Rippen's tube and fell safely in the box. Unfortunately, it now snapped shut. The Hues that sported green now lost the color, skin and clothes turning to gray. Pen sighed in defeat.

Rippen laughed at his demise. "Good luck with the rest of the rocks!"

With that, he pedaled away, the Drabs following.

Penn stood up in frustration and face-palmed. Verge dusted herself and crossed her arms. "Great. This is just...great."

"Come on!" He jumped up and stood on top of the Hues' feast table, hoping to call out to them. "OK, guys? We need to stop making everything some dumb competition. 'Cause if we don't get the rocks back, all the color you're so proud of will disappear! Mkay? So let's rain it in!"

"You are right as rain," the Hue Helper said. "We'll miss green, of that there's no doubt. Our world is more plain...but we can still dance and shout!"

Like the Drabs, all the Hues followed and cheered among those words. Penn groaned, seeing as they didn't get the point. Verge shook her head in exasperation. Sashi stuffed her head in a chicken.

"OK!" Penn said. "Verge, next stop?"

"Oh, right, um...the orange rock is in the plains. Zippy Zip line?"

"Zippy Zip line!: Boone cheered, already heading for the ride. Penn sighed as they all rode it again.

Lucky for them, the orange rock was still there. As the Hues neared it, they suddenly stopped and saw the Drabs making a giant lawn fox out of a leaves. They saw another chance to get into competition, and started making a giant lawn rabbit. As the lawn animals fought, Penn grunted and tried to get the rock.

"Whoa!" He failed when the lawn rabbit engulfed him in its mouth. Rippen saw the opportunity and took the rock.

Because of that, all orange colors faded again. As they did, the fox seemed to be chewing on Penn.

"Hey!" Verge shouted, flying garden magic, she made the lawn fox open its mouth and spit Penn out. The fairy quickly got her friend and landed him safely onto the ground.

The Drabs managed to escape before they could do anything about it.

"That was even quicker than last time!" Sashi exclaimed.

"Well," Penn sighed. "We still have four more rocks to get."

"It won't be long until Rippen gets those too!" Verge protested.

"If there's one thing we learned from being part-time heroes, it's that we never give up!"

Verge decided not to say anything as she guided them through the Tree Whee to their next destination.

They all ended up back in the forest, where the red rock was supposed to be. "Where is it?" Penn asked.

"Uh, right in front of you?" Verge said, pointing matter-of-factly.

Penn only grinned and walked forward. "Wait, Zero!"

Too late. It appears the Hues and Drabs were engaging in another competition. _"Hah!" _Penn gasped and ducked as they got into what looks like a sword/stick fight. Hue and Drab sticks clashed, while the part-time heroes tried to focus on the rock.

Penn ran forward, only to be caught up in a fight. He jumped up as the Drab's stick jabbed forward, and he landed on the Hue. He raised his fists up to fight as well, but only realized that his pants had fall down. Verge giggled a bit, much to Penn's embarrassment and caused the blush on his cheeks.

But because of that distraction, Rippen took the red rock, and the blush, as well as all the other reds, faded again.

Penn glared at the villain as he laughed away. The Drabs escaped again, and Penn pulled his pants up. "This is so frustrating!" he shouted.

"Take it easy there, buddy," Boone said calmly.

"I can't 'take it easy'! These fights are getting us nowhere!"

"But, Penn-" Sashi started.

"It's true, Sashi," Verge said, sighing. "Let's...come on, blue rock's next."

They all took the Tree Whee and Verge lead them to the lake. She yelped in surprise at the moment she came out of the tree, and quickly stopped herself for coming in contact with the water. She sighed in relief, and the Hues went to grab a boat.

Penn saw the blue rock standing safely on a lily pad. "Hurry!" Penn shouted as they all got in.

Boone helped row the boat to the lily pad, Penn already jumping up and down in frustration. "Calm it, Zero!" Verge shouted, flying over him.

But it was too late to "calm it" too. The Drabs had now started a water ballet for the next competition. Penn grinned, thinking he finally got a rock, but was only stopped as he found the Hues got off the boat and made their own performance. Penn now just hummed in bitter annoyance as the boat was lifted into the air by the Hues.

"Ahahahahaha!" Rippen chortled as he took the blue rock by his teeth. Once again, the colors faded.

_"Guys!"_ Verge yelled.

"Wah!" Penn shouted, as the Hues dropped them into the water.

As the quartet got out of the water, Verge suffered more. She was too late to save herself and use water magic to shield her wings. She walked onto the shore, feeling very drenched and grumpy.

"Now, this is just getting ridiculous," she grumbled.

"This is _impossible," _Penn groaned. "There's no stopping these guys!"

"Look, guys," Sashi said, bitter tones slipping through. "I'm just as annoyed as you are. But Penn's right. We can't give up."

"Come on, gang!" the Hue Helper said. "There's no need to frown! If we keep all this up, our luck will turn upside-down!"

"No, it won't," Verge said through gritted teeth. "Not. At this. Rate."

"Let's take the Zippy Zip line! On towards the yellow rock so fine!"

Verge face-palmed. "All right, fine. The rock's close by. Let's go. Zippy Zip Line."

Everyone got on the zip line again. Verge now sat in Penn's hat, watching close out for the yellow rock. "I think I see it!" she shouted out. "It's on that mountain!"

"Ah, yes, over there! That is Pillow Peak!" the Hue Helper said.

"Why do you call it Pillow Peak?"

"Because of its-"

He was interrupted as the zip line's cord broke, and all the Hues fell at the base of the mountain. The quartet screamed again, but they landed quite safely, as some pillows broke their fall.

"...feathery unique!"

"Enough with the rhyming!" Verge shouted, bursting out from the pillows and was now covered in feathers. "I've already had enough from the genderbend musical dimension!"

"Rippen has got to have the last rock by now," Penn said sadly. He was covered in feathers as well, but they were harder for him to take out.

"No. The last rock is the purple one. It's still at some plains. Let's just go."

"Still taking the Zip Line?"

"Heck no. I'm flying all the way. I've given up on these people's way of traveling."

By the time they arrived at the plains, Rippen was already pedaling for the last rock. The villain then looked up and gasped to see the four heroes dropping in before him.

He only smirked in return. "Ah. I was out getting the yellow rock. What were you doing? Crashing into some pillows?"

Penn blew feathers that were in his mouth. Apparently, the four were still chock covered in them. "Yeah, but don't make a big deal about it, all right? It's been a long day."

"It's weird how the Hues weren't affected..." Verge muttered, seeing their feather-free bodies.

"Normally, I would be just as annoyed as you would be in this place," Rippen said. "But things have really gone my way. Larry's off with a fox somewhere, and these two groups of idiots have gotten in _your_ way slightly more than _mine."_

"Well, not this time, Rippen-"

_"...Hup two, hup three!"_

Before they knew it, the purple rock that was used as a football had made its touchdown.

_"Oh, come on!"_

The Hues all gasped as the last bit of color was drained out of them.

Rippen sneered. "I'd love to stick around and gloat, but I've got a hot date with a volcano. Pun intended."

"I hope she dumps you!" Verge yelled back.

"To the volcano! You heard him, Drabs!" the Lieutenant told her people. "Once there, we'll practice walking sideways like crabs!"

As the Drabs did just that, it appeared they had already gotten on Rippen's last nerve. "See, the thing is: I really hate you guys. You're just as bad as the Hues, so I'm ditching you! Enjoy your crab-walking or whatever. Farewell!"

He laughed his evil laugh as he crossed the bridge, launching a rocket as he broke the one way to the volcano.

"I think Rippen has the right idea," Sashi said. "We should ditch these guys. Our mission is to just to save the rocks! These losers don't even care about the rocks. They just care about competing with each other."

"Sashi, you make a valid but unnecessarily harsh point." Penn agreed.

"Wait, guys," Verge said. "You know that's true and both untrue at the same time." The fairy turned to Penn. "Zero, I know these guys suck. For all I know, they're hopeless. But there's a point in time where you just need to take something and make it better, right? I mean, what good would the world do if no one saw reason?"

Penn's eyes widened slightly at that but he nodded at her words. "That's true, Verge...and it does give me an idea."

The part-time hero then turned to the colorless people, shouting out for their attention. "Drabs? Hues? I don't know if you've noticed, but since neither of you have color, you guys pretty much look and act exactly the same. Can you even tell each other apart?" He paused, hearing the whispers of uncertainty. "Yeah, raise your hand if you're a Hue."

There were some hands, but they were slowly dropped down in reluctance. The people gasped, now seeing the point. "Why are you guys fighting it up? You guys would have a lot more fun if you were friends."

At those words, the Hue Helper and the Drab Lieutenant looked at each other. The female Drab sighed. "I suppose we could change our views about the very similar Hues."

The male Hue smiled back. "And we could stop taking jabs at the fairly entertaining Drabs!"

"I still think the Hues are better."

"Boone!"

Verge grinned as she flew over them. "See? You could all be friends if you tried. Back then, on the outside, you guys were different."

When she smiled at Penn, he smiled back. "But on this inside, you're two of the same heart."

The two nodded as they tiny fist-bumped.

"OK!" Penn announced. "Well then it's settled! Let's work together and get the color back for everyone to share!"

_"We all say yay to making Drabswatch pay! But also yell hooray for the day we all turned gray!"_

"Your rhyming _still _sucks!" Verge cheered. "But now to the volcano, which I plainly see. To get there, let's-"

"Take the Tree Whee!" the Hue Helper cheered.

Verge suddenly came up to his side, grew to a larger size and slammed her palm into his mouth. "No! No! I am not taking any more chances with Hue Town transportation! We are doing this thing right. Divergent style."

Everyone but the fairy's friends had no idea what that meant. Verge gathered a giant ball of fairy dust and sprinkled it all over the Hues and Drabs. They gasped in excitement at the fact that they were flying in the air.

"Let's go, Hues and Drabs!" She suddenly paused. "What would you call that? Habs? Drues? Ah, what the dust, come on!"

They all arrived just in time. Penn told them all their plan, as the quartet flew up to the peak of the volcano. Rippen was already there, taking the rock box as he neared the crater.

"When I win, I can finally use my full-time villain business cards!"

Penn smirked, crossing his arms. "I hope you didn't buy in. 'Cause that's not happening!"

"You'll never stop me on your own!"

At those words, Verge launched a dust rocket into the sky. As it exploded like fireworks, the Tree Whees opened up. _"Wheeeeee!"_

Rippen stared at the Hues/Drabs now surrounding him.

"OK, fine, you're not alone. But what are these nitwits going to do?"

At those words again, the Hues/Drabs started lunging themselves at the villain, starting to surround him and drag him away from the crater. "Ah!" Panicking, he threw the box, and it rolled onto the edge. Everyone gasped at that.

And it fell in.

"Aha! I win!"

_"No!" _

Penn was the one who reacted first. He lunged himself into the crater, and jumped in as well.

As he neared the box, he suddenly saw that Verge was flying beside him. It was easier for her to fall since she was in small size. But once they had the box, Penn gulped. "You know, we should have put more thought into the tail end of this plan."

"Yes we should have!"

It was too late for her to dust them now. Penn held Verge against him tightly as they braced for the worst.

But the lava never came in contact.

Penn was delighted to look up and see the Hues/Drabs had made a ladder to catch them. And it was just in time too.

"Zero...can't breathe."

Penn jumped and quickly let go. "Sorry!"

Grinning idiotically, Verge quickly conjured more dust. She dusted the Hue/Drab ladder and everyone flew back onto the ground safely.

"Whew."

As they got the box back safely, Penn looked at everyone. "You guys did great."

"We could never have stopped or ended this feud," the Hue Helper started.

"If it wasn't for all four of you." the Lieutenant finished.

Grinning, Penn turned to his friends as they opened the box. As they gazed upon the colorful rocks and had a closer look on them, Verge realized one thing.

"Wait, these aren't rocks."

At those words, they suddenly started to break. Penn took the red rock out and stared. There was a colorful blast of light and out from the rocks came colored chicks.

"They were eggs?" Penn exclaimed.

"Awwwww!" Verge squealed again, cuddling the red bird from his hand. "So cuuuute!"

But there was no time to gaze at their cuteness. All six birds flew into the air all at the same time, and then scattered into the different parts of the land.

The color returned to the world in no time.

The Hues and Drabs cheered, with now all of them becoming Hues. The quartet stared as they saw a triple rainbow come across their sight. Boone gasped and rubbed his eyes, not wanting to believe what he was seeing. Penn smiled and turned to Sashi, who nodded at him.

Then he turned to Verge who just tiny-attacked him by hugging his face. "We did good?"

Penn had to chuckle at that. "We did good."

With that, they got zapped back home.

* * *

That night, Verge was hanging out in the kitchen, making herself a little late-night snack. The mission apparently made her hungry. She closed the fridge door, taking a bite of her veggie sandwich, and was surprised to see a bouquet of roses practically get shoved in her face.

"Hope you're not allergic," Penn joked, waving the flowers.

Laughing slightly, Verge set her food down as she took the bouquet. "What's this about? Trying to make the world a little better?"

Penn smiled. "Just a little gift. For the best fairy guide in the world. After all, sometimes I wouldn't be here without you."

"Aw, Zero," Verge grinned, touching a petal. "Thanks. You're amazing, Penn."

"Only 'cause I have you in my life, Verge."

The two suddenly burst out laughing and fist-bumped.

* * *

**I honestly did not like all the rhyming in this episode xD The Princess Most Fair was definitely better!  
**

**And yaaaay I uploaded the 20th episode! I don't know if any of you have noticed, but I upload a special episode after every five episodes. So you know what that means? Yeah, you got it!  
**

**Dear Lilla, if you're reading this, I finally get to post your episode! I'll do my very best on it tomorrow! To all you readers, stick around for more adventures with Verge and Penn! Because there's sure as hell gonna be a lot more ;)**

**Read on, guys!**


	25. Wings and Tricks

**Special Episode: Wings and Tricks**

* * *

**Finally! It's the episode I've been waiting to publish for a long time. Special thanks again to Lilla for giving me this idea. I never would have thought of it :) I'm sorry if Lakely's character turns up wrong, but I hope you like it still~**

**The rest of story were my ideas,**** and I have to admit, this all feels like my longest chapter yet. I think it would take **_**more**_** than twenty minutes if it was a real episode ^^" But hey, I had fun writing it! I'm feeling real proud of this special episode especially because I really felt like I had the time to plan it this time! Can't wait for the next one to come to my mind! I'll happily be accepting more requests though ;)**

**Anyways, here's Special Episode 4! Hope ya'll enjoy~**

* * *

"Who's up for Flight Friday?!"

"All right!"

"Been waiting all month!"

"Give us your best shot!"

Verge transformed to her normal fairy size and started flying around her friends. Penn, Boone, and Sashi were slowly floating into the air at the touch of the fairy dust.

"Yes!" No sooner were the friends up and flying around the park, laughing at such actions.

You would think someone might've seen them. But there was no one there. Somehow, at the second Friday of every month, there wouldn't be any people seen around Middleburg Park. It was confusing, but the quartet decided not to question it. Especially when they used that time to just chill out and fly around.

The friends had flown together in missions before, but only a short-time basis. They never got to actually have some fun. So today was one of those rare days.

The quartet then decided to take things to the sky. Boone and Sashi somehow got themselves caught in a cloud race. Penn just sighed happily as he floated on his back.

"Ah, to enjoy the wonders of life…"

"Hey, Zero!"

The part-time hero yelped and flew straight when he saw Verge facing him and flying upside down. "You enjoying today so far?"

"How do you do that?" Penn blurted out suddenly. "I mean, I see you do it all the time, but it's always hard for me!"

"Aw, it's easy, Zero!" Vegre giggled as she turned right side up again. "Watch this."

Verge suddenly leaned backwards, close to falling down. But then she stopped and nudged her feet upwards before turning around and meeting Penn's face again. She smiled knowingly and continued to fly up. Penn tried to do the same, but he only ended up almost falling instead.

"_Whoa!"_

Verge quickly helped him up in the air again, chuckling. "You'll get it one time."

"Heh…thanks."

"This is awesome, Vergie!" Boone called out, grinning widely. "It's just like being a fairy again!"

The girl smiled at that, but then it suddenly melted into a frown. "Yeah…I guess so…"

"You all right, Verge?" Sashi asked, flying over.

"Uh-huh…it's just…well, I do want to meet a real fairy like me for once…" The other three exchanged glances. Her sentence obviously had a meaning.

"Verge, I promised you once, I can promise again," Penn said. "You'll be able to see Fairy World soon! Not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday."

"I know." The fairy looked up at her human friends and smiled. They smiled back. "Now, what'd you guys say we get to work?"

"Aww, but we're having so much fun!" Boone complained.

The other three only chuckled. "Come on, Mr. Having Fun," Verge said, taking his arm. Together, the quartet all flew over to the Odyssey.

They landed by the door just in time, for the dust had just worn off. They entered it together and into the cinema, where the MUT waited for them. "Hey, Phyllis," Verge called out as her friends stepped onto the platform.

"Hold up," the mechanic called. "Before you go. Verge. We must speak."

Penn raised an eyebrow at the fairy but she only shrugged as she flew towards Phyllis. "What's up?"

"About your Fairy World…"

"Yes?" Verge listened intently. It has been a while since Phyllis informed her about those "signals" she had been receiving. The fairy had been feeling very hopeful since then.

But now, Verge couldn't tell if Phyllis was feeling sad or not, but her tone surely dropped. "…The signals have stopped. I have lost contact of them."

At those words, Verge felt her little fairy heart stop. All that hoping for nothing? She felt herself lower to the ground, her wings now looking a little droopy. "…Are you serious?"

Phyllis nodded. "I am sorry."

Verge didn't even hear them. This was supposed to be a fun day. Now, it just drained all her energy. "…OK."

Before Phyllis could say any more, she flew over to the platform.

Once her friends saw her face, they knew something was wrong. "Verge?" Sashi asked. "You all right?"

"Fine," she said. It was almost like a snap. The three exchanged a worried look.

Phyllis cleared her throat to snap them out of it. "Just one more warning. Today's mission could take a few days to accomplish."

"Well, we're lucky it's a Friday," Penn said, trying to brighten the mood. But Verge couldn't stop frowning.

They didn't say anything more as Phyllis zapped them in.

* * *

When Penn opened his eyes, he almost thought he was back in Cowboy world. Everywhere he looked, he just saw sand and rocks like this was a desert. No sign of a city at all. There was a road right in front of him though, but it almost appeared to be leading to nowhere. He looked at his clothes and grinned.

"Sweet! I'm a magician!" He was wearing a tuxedo, black eye mask, and a top hat. He took the edge of his cape and covered half his face. "Abraca-disappear!"

"You're a magician, not a ninja," Sashi said, rolling her eyes. Her white Specs looked like she was also wearing an eye mask, and she had on a long red dress.

"I certainly feel like one!" Boone had darker skin, was wearing all black, almost bald. He looked like an usher. But in his arms, he carried a red jacket and hat, which he put on immediately. "What's our mission? Pull rabbits out of a hat?"

"That seems like a dumb mission," Verge laughed lightly, floating over them. She didn't change her form again, as usual. "But it would make things easier. But I have to say, I hate magicians. They just use _fake_ magic, and yet everyone believes in them."

"Oh, calm down, Verge, it's just for entertainment!" Penn assured, half-relieved she wasn't that gloomy now. "Let's just see what we've got. Sash, check the Specs."

"All right. We're a traveling magician group, on our way back to our home, Magicity. We have to stop an evil magician, who plans to steal the city president's Wand of Power so he can take over and destroy the city. Our mission is to stop him before he does."

"An entire city of magic, huh? Sounds like that other mission we went on, right Verge?"

"Don't remind me, " the fairy shuddered, transforming to human size. "I still can't get over the thought of not having wings…"

"Well, this mission should be easy, I guess. But what did Phyllis say about it taking a few days?"

"Guess we'll be walking," Boone said, pointing at a sign pointing south. It had the words "Magicity, 1000 miles" on it.

"Taking that measurements, we could reach the city in more than a _week_ if we go on foot!" Verge groaned.

Her friends groaned along with them. "Well, we don't really have a choice," Penn sighed. "We don't even have a cart. What kind of traveling magician group has no cart?"

"This kind, apparently. Let's just carry on and hope we make it there alive."

Without another word and the complaints growing in their heads, the quartet ventured on.

It took about half an hour before the quartet completely collapsed. Walking down a road in the middle of a desert was _definitely _tiring. They were lucky Verge could conjure up water, but they made a choice to rest by a cactus. They were barely 800 miles to the city by then.

"We'll never make it like this!" Sashi exclaimed. "We have to think of another way!"

"Yeah, but how?" Boone asked.

"Well, we could fly," Penn suggested. "I mean, Verge still has her dust! Right, Verge?"

When the boy turned to the fairy beside him, he frowned when he saw her sad face again. Something was definitely bothering Verge to get her to be this depressing. "Verge?" he asked again.

"Huh? What?" the fairy quickly snapped out of it and forced a smile. "Yeah, I guess my dust can reach 926 miles."

"Verge, you're not fine. I know that look. You got it when you lost your wings. Tell us what's wrong."

"We're your friends, Verge," Sashi added. "We're here for you."

When she looked at the three humans and their reassuring faces, she had to smile. "Aw, you guys…r-really. I'm OK. I guess I'm just a little worried about the mission? Yeah…"

That definitely wasn't the case. Maybe Verge wasn't ready to talk about it yet…

"I swear, if we could just find some kind of—"

"_Help!"_

"Yeah, Verge, we really need that," Boone said. "But where can we get it? We're in the middle of nowhere."

"I didn't say that!"

"_Help!"_

Verge looked around, a little confused. "Someone's in trouble!"

"But who?" Sashi asked, as the others also looked around. But there was absolutely no one in sight.

"_Help!"_

Verge's fairystincts perked up and she suddenly turned to another nearby cactus. They quickly ran over and Verge reached for it.

"Ow!" She rubbed her finger, forgetting the cactus' spikiness. Hesitating, she used her garden magic to make the cactus grow a little smaller. As it shrunk, they got a little bit of a clear vision and the four gasped at what they saw.

A small boy was stuck in one of the cactus' thorns. He was in a complicated position, not being able to move for it could get him poked if he did. He looked in real pain, but that's not why the quartet stared.

The small boy had wings.

"A fairy," Penn gasped. Verge let out steady breaths, as she turned smaller. Never in her entire life in the human world would she ever think to come across another fairy. Now, his little cries snapped her out of the daze.

"Help! Please!"

"Oh right!" Verge forced herself to snap out of it a bit. She hesitated for a moment for simply taking out the thorns nearest to the fairy. Once he was free, he grinned with excitement and flew upwards.

"Free!" he cheered. "I'm free! Note to self, never try to experiment a cactus." He grinned at Verge. "Ah, thanks so much."

"Freedom is refreshing, isn't it?" Verge said, flying up to him. She was still pretty psyched. "I can't believe it! You're a fairy…"

The fairy's wings weren't exactly golden like hers, but she wasn't paying attention to that. He had short black hair with bangs covering his left eye. His right one was a perfect shade of deep green. Much to Verge's delight, he also wore these huntsman-like clothes made of green and purple leaves. When he smiled, she found herself smiling back.

"Yeah, I noticed," he chuckled. "It's as if you've never seen one before."

"Ah, well…that's a long story."

"I'm willing to hear. By the way, my name is Lakely."

"I'm Divergent."

"Yes. Yes, you are."

It was hard tell from her pale skin if she was blushing or not.

Suddenly, the two heard someone clear their throat and turned to see Penn forcing a half smile. "Excuse me?" he called. "We're still here."

"Oh, right," Verge laughed lightly, flying over. "Lakely, these are my friends. Penn, Boone and Sashi."

"Hi!" Lakely then grew to human size, which surprised Verge a bit. He smiled again. "It's nice to meet you."

"Dude!" Boone suddenly exclaimed. "You're a fairy!"

"Wow," Lakely chuckled. "It's as if everyone's having a hard time believing that."

"So you're really from Fairy World?" Sashi asked.

"Oh, yeah. At least…well, I used to be."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Penn questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, one day I was just minding my own business, helping around in the town…the next, they kicked me out of the dimension."

"That's terrible!" Boone gasped.

"I know. Took my portable MUT and everything. Now, I'm stuck here. Can't go back."

"You too, huh?" Verge tried to hide it, but she was staring down at the ground sadly. Her friends exchanged glances. So that's what was up.

Penn tried to say something but Lakely beat him to it. He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled softly. "Hey, Divergent. Fairies stick together. Who cares about a stupid dimension?"

Verge had to laugh at those words. "Thanks, Lakely. 'Appreciate it. And you can call me Verge."

Penn tried to restrain himself by clenching his fists. This guy had just crossed the line.

"OK! Well, it's time to say goodbye, 'cause we've got to get going now—"

"Aww, come on, Zero!" Verge protested. "Let him come along with us!"

"Yeah, Zero," Lakely smirked. "Let me tag. I could be of use."

Penn growled. "Do _not _call me that."

"Why not? Verge says it."

"My name is _Penn_. And you're not coming. One fairy is enough." Realizing what he said, he quickly added, "Y-You know, in a good way."

"Hmm, but it appears you need more help than you think," Lakely turned smaller again and patted Penn's top hat. "You're a _magician,_ right? Magicians do magic. Powerful magic. No matter how fake it is." When Verge laughed in agreement, Penn glared. "The thing is, you need a ride. And all traveling magicians have a ride."

"Uh, hello?" Sashi called. "I don't think there you've noticed, but there's nothing on the road."

"Oh, _contraire_. That's why they're magicians. Do you mind?" Without waiting for Penn's reply, Lakely took his hat and reached into it. Everyone was surprised when they saw him bring out a small button.

Then he flew over to the road and pressed it. The button started to transform into something more. It unfolded itself, revealing extra parts and resulting to the appearance of a black trailer park. It had wand and magician hat designs, and also completely decorated with what looked like glitter. The words "The Thrilling Terrific Trio" were painted across the back.

"Awesome!" Boone cheered.

"Nice," Sashi admitted, grinning as she got inside.

Even Penn was a little impressed. "Huh…" he said, kicking the wheel. "Never would have thought of this…"

"Trio, huh…" Verge mumbled. She knew this problem had crossed and passed before, but now it just hurt her all over again.

Luckily, Penn noticed her look first. "That doesn't mean anything," Penn reassured her quickly. The fairy only laughed and nodded, assured.

"OK, black one!" Lakely said, pointing at Boone. "You look like a reasonable guy. Mind taking the wheel?"

Boone frowned. "I don't know how to drive."

Lakely chuckled and patted his back. "If anyone should lead us to your goal, I think you would be the right person to do it. If not you, who else?"

That seemed to move him. "I shall accomplish the un-accomplishable!" He hopped into the front seat and immediately started the truck.

"Well, that was fast," Verge said, smirking.

Lakely smiled back, taking her by the arm "Come on! There's still more to see—"

"And who said you could come along?" Penn asked, arms crossed.

"Hey, look. I just helped you start the ride you needed, which you already had with you but didn't know about it. I've been around Magician World for the past three years. You could use me to help."

"Come on, Zero!" Verge pleaded. "Please?"

Not that Penn didn't want Verge to get to know another fairy from her dimension. He knew this would be what she wanted. But something about this Lakely guy did not seem right to him. He didn't know what, but his instincts told him he was no good…

"Guys!" Sashi called out from the trailer. "We better get going or we'll never make it to Magicity in time!"

"Tick tock, hero," Lakely pushed on.

Finally, Penn groaned. "All right! Fine! He can come."

"Yay!" Verge cheered, flying over and hugging his head quickly. Penn had to smile a bit at that.

"You won't regret it, Svenn,_"_ Lakely said with such distinction.

"It's Penn."

"Let's hit the road!" He took Verge by the arm again and they flew inside. The redhead reluctantly followed.

"Road trip!" Boone sang as he stepped on the pedal.

The five of them were on the road before they knew it.

Penn had to admit, the magician he became had good taste. He had everything a magician ever needed. Penn may have thought it was cool, the fairies didn't seem to think so.

"And over here is where he puts all his bunnies," Lakely was saying. "That is, he would if he can keep them from hopping away."

It must've been an inside fairy joke or something because Verge laughed. "Wow," she giggled. "Just wow."

"Excuse me," Penn cut in, rather rudely. "But how exactly do you know all about this?"

"Please, Glenn,"

"It's _Penn._"

"I told you! I know all the ropes around this dimension. I can be like a fairy guide."

"There's only room for _one_ and that position's already fulfilled. Besides, we're a quartet! Right, guys?"

"Penn, check it out!" Boone called. "Lakely thought me how to use magic to drive! My hands aren't on the wheel!"

"Boone!" Sashi exclaimed.

"It's totally fine!"

Lakely gave a knowing look. Penn resisted the urge to growl. "Calm down, Penn," Verge said, going human size. "Lakely's just here to help. He's not going to get in the way of this team."

"Yeah," Sashi agreed. "Just hold it up until the mission is over."

Penn grunted in annoyance. "We'll just see how long he can last."

Apparently, he can last more than Penn thought.

As they were on the road, Lakely decided to put on a little show. Verge created the dust and Lakely used it to turn into shapes. Apparently, he seemed to be good at that. He made all kinds of inanimate objects and animals. Bunnies, magic wands, a sumo-wrestler match (much to Sashi's enjoyment), a pigoilet (much to Boone's delight). He even created a fairy dust bouquet of flowers and gave it to Verge and Sashi. Verge was grateful, but Sashi just turned the bouquet into a sword. Penn was the only one not watching.

Later on at a little lunch break, the male fairy offered to help catch lunch. They stopped at a little lake that was luckily in the desert. Lakely flew right over and started coaxing fish. Either that, or he was irritating them, because one fish started jumping out of the water and snapping at him. The four gasped when he grabbed it by the fin and got dragged into the water. But not a second later, he emerged back out, appearing to enjoy the little ride and the fish struggled and jumped like a dolphin. Boone and Verge cheered when he came back with about five more of them.

Just when Penn thought he'd had enough, he tried entertaining everyone by making magic tricks. But he kept messing up. But then Lakely, who claimed he hated magician magic, stepped up again and took Penn's hat. It was just like his fairy dust show. But instead of pulling a rabbit out of it, he ended up with a cow. Everyone gasped, but laughed it off when it started to moo. Later for dinner, they ended up with some steak. Verge lifted her hand and Lakely high-fived her. That sort of tightened Penn's heart a little.

At sunset, everyone decided it was best to save their strength and catch some Zs. Boone was going on autopilot, sort of half-sleeping while driving, as the others tried to sleep. Sashi was already passed out, but Penn kept tossing and turning. He couldn't seem to close his eyes. He sat up in his bunk bed and tried drinking some water. It didn't help. So he went outside to sit at the edge of the trailer park.

But when he opened the doors, he suddenly heard laughing. If Boone was driving and Sashi was asleep, then he could only guess the fairies were up there, chatting it up. He could only roll his eyes as he tried to step away. But he found himself listening.

"So, let me get this straight," Verge said, sounding serious now. "There are actually fairies with only _one _type of nature magic?"

"Yep. Snow, garden, fast flying, water. Etc."

"And you are a dust-keeper fairy? That's how you were able to do all those tricks?"

"Mm-hmm! No special abilities. Just tending to the dust."

"I've been in the human world my whole life and I never needed fairy dust. I seemed to be making my own."

"Well, that's 'cause you're special, aren't you?" Verge only laughed it off, but she was smiling. "Fairies don't really _need_ fairy dust. It's just what we use when we need things to fly like us. When I was banished, I took an extra large bag to go. I was careful with it, and three years later, I still haven't used up half the bag."

"That's awesome!"

"Then again, fairies really are," Lakely chuckled. "So you haven't seen fairies around either, huh?"

"Yeah…six years in the human world."

"Must be harsh."

"I lost my memory too. Gotta admit, being the only flying one can be a bit lonely." At that, Penn frowned. "But I guess I'm still fine, right? Nothing can keep me down!"

Lakely laughed. "You got that right! And now that I'm around, you have nothing to fear!"

Verge chuckled. "Talk about arrogant much."

"Hey, fairies stick together, yes?"

"Little winged magic creatures for the win."

The two laughed slightly and bumped their fists against each other. "Fairy fist bump!"

'_Uh-oh,' _Penn thought. They already had their own fist bump. One day with this new guy and he was already warming up to his friends. Not bearing to hear any more, Penn assumed he could sleep better now and went back inside the trailer.

Then, Verge smiled a bit. "I'm only who I am now because of Zero and the others. I could never have survived in the human world – or any other world – without them."

Lakely frowned. "They mean that much to you, huh?..."

Verge nodded, staring up at the night sky. "And to think, there's still plenty more missions for us to come…"

"Don't you…you know, want to go back to Fairy World too?"

"Oh, I do. You have no idea. But leaving these guys…I just can't bring myself to do it. It's my dream to go see the home I half-grew up in. But these guys are _my_ family _now_. I can never imagine having to abandon them."

Lakely suddenly chuckled at that as he lay down on the roof, hands behind his head. "You know, you're a really cool fairy, Verge. I like the way you think."

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "You're pretty cool too, Lakely."

The two then just laid back, staring up at orange sky.

"Guys! Guys!" Everyone suddenly woke up from their sleeping to hear Boone shouting. "I see it! Magicity!"

The others immediately got up and checked at the driver's seat. Verge and Lakely, who were already outside, looked from the roof and grinned at the sight.

It was as if fireworks were just bursting out from the place, welcoming them. It may have been dark, but everything still looked so beautiful. Especially with everyone using magic lights to brighten up the city. Everything looked so spectacular and magical. The buildings were tall, and everyone appeared to be busy. Because everyone there was a magician. There was zapping and tricking all around. The magicians appeared to be having fun with it themselves.

"This place is awesome!" Verge exclaimed.

"Double awesome!" Penn agreed. "OK, so all we have to do is go to the president and protect the Wand of Power, right? Piece of cake."

"We have to be careful," Sashi warned. "The magician could strike _any _moment. We have to think this whole thing out."

"Relax, Sashi! The _four of us_ can handle it."

"Ah, don't be a spoil-sport, Gwen!"

"_It's Penn."_

"Let me in on all the fun, eh?"

"This is _our_ mission! We work as a _quartet!_ Not a…um…what's the thing that comes after quartet?" Verge, Boone, and Sashi shrugged.

"Intruplet," Lakely smiled smugly. "You still need me. And I _can _help."

"Zero, we've got help from other people before," Verge said calmly. "Why is this any different?"

Penn looked like he was just about to explode. "Oh, so you're defending _him_ now? We barely know him! We gotta put the team first, remember? You're warming up to him!"

Verge frowned at that. Something was bothering Penn, and she knew it had something to do with Lakely. "Zero, that's not…What are you talking about?"

"Never mind! I don't tell you everything! Boone, get us to the President's office."

The fairy almost cowered back. When Penn used her own catchphrase against her, she knew things were serious. At times when she was scared, Penn would be there to comfort her. But now he was the one she needed comforting against.

Boone drove the trailer towards a tall building, where apparently was the President's building. After convincing security, they managed to get an audience with him, and were immediately directed to his office.

"I have heard about there being some problems with the safety of the Wand of Power," the president said. "Is it true someone plans to steal it?"

"That is correct," Penn proclaimed. "But fear not, for we ensure to you, sir, that we will be able to guard your Wand and see that no one gets their hands on it!"

"I like your reasoning, traveler," The President grinned and brought his wand out. He flicked it, and two guards appeared. "I want everyone in the building to help these fellow magicians. No one is allowed in or out of the building. Make absolute certain that no one _gets this wand."_

Once that was all confirmed, the President had provided rooms for the travelers. No one knew when Rippen was about to strike, so they decided to take turns keeping an eye on the Wand's Vault. "All right," Penn said. "Let's do this. I'll take the first watch."

"Actually, Zen," Lakely started.

"Are you _trying_ to get my name wrong?"

"Maybe Verge and I should take the first watch! Us fairies are much better at staying awake than humans. We'll wake you up when anything happens."

Penn only squinted his eyes at the male fairy. "I don't trust you with anything as important as this."

"_I_ do," Verge put in, flying in between them. "Come on, Zero. Let us do this."

Penn resisted the urge to growl. "Fine. Whatever. Do what you want."

With that, he, Boone, and Sashi all went to sleep.

"Wow, he's grumpy. What's his problem?"

"I'm sorry," Verge sighed. "I really don't know either."

The rest of the night was quickly falling upon them. The Wand was locked up in its vault pretty. Verge flew around the bedroom her friends slept in. They were ensured passed out and continuing to rest. She quietly fluttered out of the room and met up with Lakely, both of them growing to human size.

"Everyone's all right," she confirmed. "No Rippen yet."

"Good," The male fairy sat down at the door of the vault, as Verge sat beside him. "Ah, I love nighttime. It's always so much peaceful and mysterious."

"You think so?" Verge asked, smiling. "I'm fond of the dark sometimes, but only because I have the light from the dust to guide me."

Lakely chuckled at that. "At Fairy World, all the lights are fireflies. Trained by animal lovers to be good friends with fairies. Real handy creatures."

"Amazing," Verge mused. "You're lucky you remember everything about Fairy World…"

Lakely took one look at her sad expression and frowned. "So…going back to Fairy World—"

"Would be my number one dream. For just even a little bit…I would want to go back. But, we can't if we don't have our portable MUTs, right?"

Lakely hesitated, nodding slowly. As he watched Verge look up at the stars, he sighed.

"Look, Verge…I haven't been completely honest with you."

"What?"

"I…I _do_ know how to get to Fairy World."

"_You do?!" _The golden-winged fairy gaped at him in disbelief. "Tell me you're joking."

"Nope. I'm not. I really do. One time, I was able to find a way to get back. But since I'm banished, I had to be careful of when I came and went."

"W-Why didn't you say something in the first place?"

"Well, for one, your best friend doesn't trust me."

"…Fair point."

"Another, because it's dangerous. The way to Fairy World is heavily guarded, even from MUTs. I don't want to risk any of us getting hurt."

"But I told you, Lakely. This is something I _really_ want. Six years of waiting really hurt. I'm ready to see my old home any time."

Lakely's eyes widened slightly at her words, but his face slowly creeped into a pleased smile. As the two stood, he nodded in approval. "If you say so, Divergent. But are you sure?"

'_Am I?' _Verge stared down at the ground, biting her lip. This was a once in a lifetime offer. She then found herself nodding.

"All right…"

"…Really? You mean it?"

Lakely smiled at her. "I promise I'll find the way to get us _both _home." Verge smiled at the fact. "Now…come on."

"Wait. What?"

"What, did you think I could just poof us into Fairy World just like that?"

"Well, I was _hoping. _What about the Wand Vault?"

"Oh, it'll be fine. I'll just show you the way to get there real quick and we'll be back. Let your friends sleep. We don't want them into the burden of all this."

Verge frowned, still unsure about that. "But Penn will—"

"Your Penn is mad at you, right? You don't want him to get any angrier than he is now. You're just doing him a favor, actually, for just being away fro a few minutes."

_Ouch._ The words hurts, but Verge felt like he was right. Verge looked back at the door of her friends' room and quickly turned away. "Fine. Let's do this."

Lakely could not have looked any happier.

Shrinking to small size, the two started to fly their way down to the lowest floor of the building. Lakely scanned the area, noticing that most of the guards were half-asleep. They then took a detour and they exited out the back entrance. Outside, the city was now only dimly lit, as everyone was sleeping, and making it a little harder to see in the darkness. Verge just tried following Lakely's fairy light.

"Lakely, where are we even going?" Verge called out.

"Don't worry!" he called back. "Almost there."

Verge soon found themselves coming across the likes of an abandoned warehouse. Maybe there was an MUT here? Lakely felt around for an entrance and found the latch to a broken window. He opened it and grinned.

"After you."

It made her uneasy, but Verge flew in and entered the warehouse.

It was worse when she didn't see any lights now. The entire area was enveloped in darkness, and even with the fairy light, Verge couldn't see.

"Lakely, what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing. If this is all going to work, we're going to borrow your powers for a while."

"…Wait, _what?!"_

"_Hello, fairy."_

Before Verge could react, she felt something big, hard, and cold slam against the back of her head. She tried to fight it, but her eyes fluttered shut and she slipped into the darkness.

Morning came around just as quickly. The light shone down through the curtains of the three's bedroom, waking all of them up. Penn yawned lazily in sleep, smiling at how well rested he felt.

But then his eyes popped open when he'd come to a realization. "Guys. Please tell me someone had their turn in taking watch of the vault."

Boone and Sashi sat up straight in their beds, looking just as panicked. "You mean, Verge and Lakely didn't wake you up either?"

He tried not to panic, but Penn immediately got out of his bed and practically ran to the Vault. He searched frantically, but there was no sign of the two fairies. He looked through the Vault's peephole and almost relaxed completely when the Wand was still there.

"Good. Rippen didn't come."

"But where are Verge and Lakely?" Sashi demanded.

"And why _didn't_ Rippen come here last night?" Boone added.

The sound of what sounded like a grass explosion answered just that.

The three suddenly turned to the window of the building and looked outside. Magician guards were sprawled out on the ground, groaning at the explosion. Flowers started sprouting up, spraying sleeping pollen around the guards, and knocking them out. The entrance to the building was now wide open.

"Look!" Sashi exclaimed, pointing.

Standing just a few meters away was Rippen. Once they saw him, the first thing they noticed was what he was wearing. It looked just like the metal suit he wore in the Super Hero World. The only that was added was the metal top hat he wore, which, unusually, was making sparks fly from it. Larry was happily sitting behind a big glass case in its chest, grinning as the robot suit walked towards the building.

"This is fun!" he cheered.

"Ahahaha!" Rippen laughed with glee. "Fools! No one can stop me!"

"Think again, Rip," Penn murmured. "We'll find the fairies later. Boone, Sashi, guard the vault!"

His friends nodded and took off, as Penn quickly went down the building to face off Rippen. He stood before the man, preparing for one-on-one.

"Ah, Penn Zero," the villain sneered. "Perfect timing. I was just in the mood to destroy you!"

"Not today, Rippen!" Penn shouted. He brought his own magician wand out and sent a blast of white doves.

Rippen's suit seemed to have a certain function that could control animals, because when he reached a hand out, the doves obeyed and stopped flying. He made a shooing motion, and the doves attacked Penn instead.

"Gah!" he yelped, swatting them away. He created a big gust of wind from his wand this time, hoping to lift Rippen in the air.

But the villain had a function for that too. He merely took all the wind Penn summoned and swirled it around to make a tornado. Penn got enveloped in it, and another attack he sent was directed back. _"Whoa!"_

Grunting, Penn used his wand again and grew a vine from it. He flicked it like a whip, having it grab onto something from below. Penn held on tight until the tornado died down.

But he should've already known Rippen could already control plants. The villain took the advantage, stopped the wind, and made Penn's vine grow larger. It pulled him to the ground, and started restraining him. The vines held him down, making him unable to move.

"Well! I guess I have a wand to steal."

Suddenly, Larry pressed a button in the suit, and Rippen started to float in the air. With one last smirk, he flew up to the Wand Vault's floor.

"Oh, come on! He can fly too?!"

Growing frustrated, Penn managed to take his wand again and create a blast of fire, destroying the vines. Now that he was free again, he summoned more wind, and quickly followed Rippen.

But by the time Penn got back up, Boone and Sashi were already gagged up and in ropes. They shouted muffled screams, and Penn gasped. Rippen, who was just about to open the vault, then turned around and smirked. "Oh, don't look at me. I didn't plan on doing that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know very well, _Penn."_

That was _not_ Rippen who said that. Emerging from the shadows in an evil mysterious way was a certain male fairy.

"Lakely!" Penn gasped, glaring a bit. "I _knew _it! I knew you were behind all this! I should've known you were working for Rippen."

Lakely merely smiled as he stood between the two. "Working? Oh, no, dear boy. I refuse to be working _for_ anyone. I just drove a hard bargain."

"You're not getting that wand!" Penn shouted. He pointed his wand again, ready to shoot fire.

But, as if planned, Lakely flew upwards and Rippen opened a hatch in his metal hat. Penn stared in horror at what he saw.

Verge was in there. All strapped up inside, with sparks flying from her skin. She seemed to be passed out, and looking in very much pain. Penn resisted the urge to yell, but he had to lower his wand. _"You,"_ he practically spat. "How could you do this?!"

"Oh, chillax, Zero," Lakely said, still smirking. "We're only borrowing them. Once we take over the world, we'll let her go."

"So you're getting all the power from Verge?!"

Rippen sneered back at him. "I couldn't get them in the Super Hero World. This was just a comeback! How fun they actually were to play with!" Penn glared at him at that.

The villain had managed to open the vault, and the Wand of Power sat there patiently. Rippen eagerly took it, and held it proudly. You could almost see the power just surging through the suit now.

"Yes! _Victory is mine!"_

Suddenly, they all heard the sound of lightning. Thunderclouds started to form in the air, and lightning started to strike through the city. You could almost hear the gasps and screams of the citizens below.

Penn should've been worried. He was just mere minutes close to failing. But he really needed his friend to wake up. "Verge!" he yelled. "Verge, come on!" She didn't seem to notice, and was still passed out in the metal hat.

"It's too late, Penn Zero!" Rippen yelled out. "Ahahahahaha!"

Still using Verge's powers, he burst through the ceiling and he and Lakely headed for the roof.

Penn gritted his teeth and quickly went to untie Boone and Sashi. "You guys need to get to somewhere safe," he shouted over the thunder.

"What about you?" Sashi cried.

"I'll be fine! Verge is still up there! I gotta get her back! It'll be too dangerous for you guys to come! You have to calm the citizens, and hurry!"

The two looked at each other nervously, and Boone stepped forward to put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Be careful there, man."

Penn smiled. "I will, bud. Now go!"

Still reluctant, Boone and Sashi made their way down the building. Penn breathed in a nervous breath and headed up the stairs to the roof.

Up above, Rippen was conjuring more storm clouds and causing chaos throughout the city. He was burning down buildings, making earthquakes, and just making havoc. He laughed at the people's screams of misery.

"Oh, this is so much fun!" Rippen laughed. "I have never felt so alive!"

Lakely smirked. "Just remember the end deal of this, old man."

Rippen smiled and patted the young fairy's head. "Ah, yes. Your reward will come, boy."

"_Fairy._ And keep enjoying the fun, old Rip. 'Cause it's just beginning."

"I love having fun!" Larry cheered from inside the glass case. "Then again, who doesn't? Oh, you know what I love doing for fun the most—"

Rippen pressed another in his suit, and the glass case became soundproof. Larry continued to talk, with no sound coming through. "Man, that guy can talk."

Rippen smiled again as he continued to break absolutely everything. Magicians and citizens were now cowering in fear in their homes, with some already starting to leave the city. "Victory has never tasted so sweet!" he laughed.

"Then maybe sour is the next thing you'll taste! Because you're about to meet defeat!"

The villains suddenly turned to see Penn, by the stairs, panting slightly, and still trying to keep a determined look on his face. It was amazing how he could still make pun at this point.

"I told you, Penn Zero! It's too late now!"

"No, it's not!"

Penn couldn't attack with magic so he tried to lunge forward. Rippen gasped, thinking he was about to be knocked over.

But Lakely was faster. He dove in at Penn first, pinning him to the ground. "Not so fast! You're not going to get in the way of my plan!"

Penn glared at him. "Gah!" He gathered his strength to push Lakely forward, hoping to at least conquer him.

But Lakely seemed to be stronger, as he flipped Penn around and got him into a headlock. Penn grunted, struggling to pull the male fairy's arm off. Rippen only laughed at that as he continued to bring chaos.

Penn knew he couldn't do this alone. Best for him to try again.

"Verge! Verge! _Verge!"_

* * *

Darkness. That was all the fairy saw, as she floated in it, basking in eternal slumber. She felt like she could sleep for a thousand years and she would still won't be satisfied. Divergent didn't want to open her eyes at all.

"_Verge!"_

What was that? When Verge peeked one eye, she still saw nothing. She started to close her eyes again, thinking it was just imagination deceiving her.

"_Verge, please!"_

No. It was real this time. Verge opened her eyes, just a little bit, as she felt her body slowly lift up again. As she neared the top, she could now see the teeniest bit of light, shining down upon her. She reached a hand, her nerves encouraging her to touch it. The brightness was coaxing her to just open her eyes.

"_Wake up!"_

* * *

Verge's eyes now snapped open when she saw Lakely choking Penn. Where was she? One moment, they were in the warehouse. The next…

Suddenly, she remembered everything.

"Guys, stop!" the small fairy yelled.

At her voice, Lakely grew surprised. He pushed Penn, and Rippen saw a chance to wrap him in vines.

"Not this again!"

At the take of him using her power, Verge felt her body being drained. She let out a yell of pain, as it slowly sparked her and died down again. "Divergent!" Penn exclaimed.

"Lakely…" Verge panted. "You lied."

"Technically, I didn't 'lie'. Everything I said was the truth. I just didn't tell you about _this_ side of me."

"You promised…you'd take me to Fairy World, Lakely. What happened to 'fairies stick together'?"

"Yes, Divergent," the male fairy said calmly. "I still keep that in mind. And I never break a promise. In fact, I still intend to keep ours. See, once Rippen finishes _his_ goal, I can go back with him to Middleburg and fix their MUT. We'll be able to see Fairy World because of my permission!"

"You'd become evil just because of that reason?!"

"Oh, Verge," Lakely chuckled. "I was _always_ evil. At least that's what all the fairies said! The reason why I was banished? I tried to take all the fairy dust back home and share it with the humans."

"You _what?!"_

Lakely turned to Penn, who shouted that, and glared. "Yeah, that's right. For being _generous, _I was thrown out from the only place I belonged in. Which is why I _despise _humans for even bringing me to this fate of mine!"

"Why go with Rippen then?"

"Oh, he's an exception. He'll help me get my _revenge!"_

Rippen, who was still having fun in the background, looked back and smirked. "That's right!"

"The only reason I'm making you _suffer_ for just the tiniest bit is because this all started with _your mother. _If she hadn't known about what I was trying to do, I would _never _have been banished!"

Something suddenly struck Verge's heart and caused it to pause for just a second. And it wasn't the power-draining sparks. "My mother?"

Lakely smiled evilly. "That's right, Divergent. I knew your precious Mom. Come with us, and we'll go pay her a little visit."

"Don't listen to him, Verge!" Penn yelled from the background. But it looked like the fairy had completely lost it now.

"'Fairies stick together', yes? I still believe in that, Verge. Join us, and we'll be able to go back to our home!"

Time was ticking. The thunderclouds were growing bigger, Penn was still yelling, and Rippen's laughter continued to echo out through the city. But Verge didn't hear any of it.

It was as if time had stopped for her.

"…no…"

"What was that?"

"_I said NO!"_

Lakely was taken aback by her shout, while Penn looked up at her in hope.

"Everything you're doing is wrong! I don't _want_ my old home destroyed! If I join you, you'd probably kill my mom in front of my very eyes! Even if it means giving up a chance to see her, I'm not going to risk all this happen!"

Lakely gritted his teeth in anger. "You _told_ me, Verge…you said you were lonely! We could change that."

"…No. I was never lonely." Verge looked at Penn, who seemed to smile at her words. "Everything I needed was right before my very eyes. I just didn't get the chance to open them. Yes, 'fairies stick together'. But friends last forever."

Lakely didn't do anything but glare at her angrily.

"Yeah!" Penn let out a yell, using every last bit of his strength to break through the vines. Before Lakely had the chance to react, Penn lunged at him. The male fairy struggled to get out of grasp, but Penn was looking for something in his pockets.

"Aha!" He then brought out a certain small pouch out of it.

"No!" Lakely screamed. "My dust! Give it—"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Penn sprinkled some of it on his head and tossed the bag away. As he flew into the air, Lakely let out a shout of rage and flew after him.

When Penn got air-tackled, the two struggled in the sky. Penn let out a groan as Lakely socked him in the stomach. In response to that, he kicked the fairy's leg. While Lakely winced a little, Penn started reaching for the only thing that could stop him from flying. "This is gonna hurt!" he warned, and twisted his wing.

"_Gah!" _Lakely fell to the ground, yelling in pain as he held his back.

"You fool!" Rippen shouted at the hero. He turned away from the thunderclouds and started blasting Penn with lightning.

"Whoa, whoa!" Penn yelped, barely dodging the bolts. "You missed!"

"Gah! Stay still, you flying buffoon!"

That's when Penn had an idea. "Try and catch me, you big can of stupid!"

While Lakely was still on the ground, Penn leaned backwards midair, continuing to hold his balance and flew in front of the fairy. "Hey, Rippy!" he shouted out. When he got the villain's attention, Penn started making faces.

"Stop acting like a child!" Rippen yelled, in utter fury. He held the Wand of Power with both hands, ready to blast Penn.

"_No, Rippen, stop!"_

Too late. Just at the right moment, Penn kicked his feet upwards, completely avoiding the attack, as the huge blast then hit Lakely instead.

"_No!"_

When the smoke died down, the fairy was gone.

Sparks continued to fly from the blast, with one of them flying off a pipe and breaking Larry's glass case. As he fell out, another spark bounced off the tile and knocked the metal hat, and Verge in it, off Rippen's head. The final spark then bounced off the floor again, and was heading directly for Rippen's metal suit.

"_Noooooo!"_

There was another huge explosion, caused by the suit. And Rippen found himself blasting into the stars.

Verge flew off the floor and picked the Wand of Power up. With the Wand now in good hands, Penn first used it to clear the skies. The sun popped up, and shone down on the city, as Penn started to repair the buildings, the streets, and homes of Magicity. With peace finally returned, the citizens came out of hiding, gasping at such a miracle, and cheered in delight.

Penn grinned proudly, twirling the wand. "Yeah!" he yelled out.

Verge quickly transformed to human size and tacked Penn into tight hug. He was surprised a bit at the gesture, but he almost immediately hugged her back.

"I'm glad you're OK."

"I'm glad too." Verge suddenly looked at the blast where Lakely was hit. There weren't any ash marks, much to her confusion, but she wasn't really focusing on that.

"Hey."

"I know, I know," Verge sighed sadly. "I was stupid. I shouldn't have trusted him. You were right."

Penn hesitated. "I was going to comfort you some more, but now that you agreed on that, I guess I forgive you now." The fairy laughed and socked him in the arm. Penn just smiled as he rubbed it.

"…I meant what I said, though."

"That you were stupid?" Verge raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"…Friends last forever. Boone and Sashi are amazing, and you're my best friend, Zero. There was no way I was going to go for dimension over-take just to see the life that left me behind. Sometimes I forget I'm here because of you."

Penn chuckled at that. "Aw, Verge, don't be like that. I'm just sorry you couldn't get the chance to see your home."

The fairy shook her head. "No, Zero. I already _have_ a home. I always did."

At those words, Penn had to smile.

Verge held her fist out sheepishly. Penn happily bumped it back.

Once the quartet reunited again, Verge hugged Boone and Sashi. "We're glad you're all right!" the girl sighed.

Verge only smiled. "Please, Sash. You think another fairy could beat all this toughness? I don't think so." Sashi smiled and fist-bumped with her.

Boone patted Verge's shoulder. "Glad you didn't go to the dark side, Verge."

The fairy suddenly chuckled nervously. "Oh, yeah, haha… Speaking of dark side, do you guys really think Lakely's gone forever?"

"Hmph. Let's just hope. The next time we see that guy again, I'll gladly pump his face to a pulp."

"I still can't believe he'd trick me…he was so nice…the first fairy I ever met in six years and that's how he'll treat me…"

"We have to meet disappointment every once in a while, Verge," Sashi said.

"Yeah…right…"

"Thank you so much for saving out city!" the President said, who had suddenly come up to them and grinned happily. "We are forever in your debt, o great traveler heroes!"

Penn smiled. "And to that I say, we were just doing our jobs!" He looked back at his friends and they all grinned.

The blue flash came and they were all zapped back home.

* * *

When Verge and the others got off the platform, Phyllis dropped in and stopped the fairy, speaking to her as she started repairing a broken part on the MUT. "Made a good choice," Phyllis noted, turning a wrench. "Very good. That is the action of a hero."

Verge had to smile. "Who, me? Nah. I'm just the fairy guide." It was hard to make out, but she could've sworn Phyllis smiled. "And don't worry. I'll continue to be."

* * *

**And that wraps it up! Ah, it's nice to have a something to finally be checked off the To-Write list.**

**Hope this was a good special episode guys! My final shout-out to Lilla, thanks so much again for the idea! I hope this was all worth the wait! I'm glad some of you guys like the SEs too, they're my most favorite thing to do in writing this fic :) I pray that I'll be able to have more coming in v-v So you best stick around and get updated!**


	26. Larry Manor

**Episode 21: Larry Manor**

* * *

**I probably should have said this from the start…**

**Don't read if you hate spoilers, guys! Although the special episodes, not to brag, are pretty good in my opinion. Remember to leave a review!**

* * *

_Kriiiiiiinnnnggg._

School's out. Time to get to work!

Our favorite quartet team was laughing as they each exited the building, starting a little race as they ran to the Odyssey. Sashi was in the lead, followed by Penn, Boone, and a distracted Verge, who was in her small form.

"Guys, wait up!"

"No can do!" Penn laughed. "You gotta catch up!" With that, Penn suddenly got something out of his bag. "Scootah!"

Unfortunately for him, his "scootah" soon fell apart in pieces on the ground.

"Wrench!" Sashi called out.

"…Back-up scootah!"

"Back-up wrench!"

"Haha!" Verge laughed as her tiny form flew above Sashi. "Nice try, Zero!"

She thought she was in the lead, until Sashi just _had _to reach out and pinch her wing. _"OW!"_

"Sorry, Verge!" Sashi called out as the fairy fell to the ground. She didn't sound the least bit sorry.

"Argh!" Verge quickly put her vest on, and suddenly saw a certain boy riding a table over a wagon rolling above her.

"_Excuze moi!" _Boone called, running over Sashi.

"Uh!" Sashi took her grappling hook and shot it at Boone's moving table. She used it to hitch a ride behind him.

Verge tried running extra fast. She was panting by the time she reached Sashi's side. "That was…a dirty…trick, Sash!"

"Anything to win," the girl smirked.

Verge could still turn to a smaller size, though. She quickly turned small and hopped onto Sashi's head.

"Hey, no cheating!"

"Says the cheater!"

"Huh?" Boone turned to find Sashi and Verge and got distracted. His table hit a blocking sign, making him fly off and land in a pipe.

"Whoa!" As Sashi landed perfectly, Verge wasn't so lucky. Her face had landed face-planted on the ground. When she looked up, Sashi was swinging away. She quickly got back up, but now Penn had caught up to her side.

"Sashi! Flying shark!"

"_Where?"_

Because of that distraction, she hit a lamppost. Penn laughed as he dashed by her. He didn't even need to worry about Verge since, as everyone knows, was never good on her legs anyway.

"Winner! And still champion—"

Penn suddenly found himself bumping into the doors. Verge followed, and then Boone (who was still trapped in the pipe), and finally Sashi. They all fell to the floor, surrounded by rubble, and practically on top of each other.

"Ow."

"OK," Penn said, grinning as he stood up. "Painful, yet hilariously fine collision aside, I think it's pretty clear who the winner was!"

Boone also stood and put his arm over Penn's shoulders. "It's not always about winning. Sometimes, it's about what you can steal from your opponent's backpack while _they_ are winning!"

He then revealed a cupcake, in which he indeed stole from Penn's bag. "Aw, come on, Boone, I was saving that!" Penn complained as Boone took a bite.

"Here. My mom packed me some pickled chum fish!"

"What i—_Ugggh! _Oh, Boone!"

"Can't believe I'm insulting a fish, but gross," Verge huffed. "Hey, Boone, let me take a bite!"

Just when Verge was about to, Phyllis' hand came from above and took the cupcake for herself. "Power is out," she announced, eating it whole. "No power, no mission."

"Aw, what the dust?"

"Eh, it'll come around." Penn said, shrugging.

Just then, they heard a car coming up front, and Penn recognized it as one he'd hitched a ride from. "Haha!" Rippen laughed, coming out of it. "You lose again, Larry!"

The same thing happened to the two as they tried entering the Fish Stick on a Stick store. "No block has no power, no zap," the villain's mechanic, Phil said.

"Just as well, Rippen," Penn said. "We would've crushed you again, anyway. What's that, like a, billion times in a row now?" Rippen only growled.

"Oh!" Larry piped. "We could go to my place for a snack!"

The five didn't even hesitate. "No thanks."

Larry frowned at their response. "Oh, OK. I-I-I'll leave the invitation open like I did for my Christmas party. And my Halloween party, and my Arbor Day party. Maybe someone will come this time."

The little principal suddenly got this sad look on his face. He made puppy dog eyes, but Boone, Sashi, and Rippen felt nothing. Penn and Verge looked at each other and at their friends.

"Come on guys," Verge encouraged. Penn gave a little frown.

Boone and Sashi sighed in response.

"Count us in, Larry."

He then lit up. "All right! Let's go! You too, Rippen!"

"I thought I said I didn't want to be a part of this," the part-time villain grumbled.

"Too bad, you're coming anyway," Verge said. "Plus, who's gonna drive?"

Rippen started muttering curses under his breath.

Everyone got inside the car. As Rippen drove, Verge was adjusting her vest. "Does this mean I have to wear it the entire day today?"

"Looks like it," Boone joked.

"Awww man,"

"Cool it, Verge," Sashi said. "This'll be quick."

"Uh, try again, Sash," Penn put in, pointing forward.

The car suddenly neared a large, metal gate. The four gasped when they saw the giant house that waited up ahead. _"Welcome to Larry Manor!" _a voice said.

"Oh my wings…"

"Whoa, did you win the lottery or something?" Boone asked.

Larry only chuckled as they got out of the car. He got a peanut out of his pocket and the six of them walked past what looked like a Safari Park. "Nope. I won thirty-two lotteries."

He fed the peanut to a giraffe, who ate it happily.

If Verge wasn't already standing, she would've fell to the ground while flying. "Thirty-two times?" Penn gasped in disbelief. "How?"

"By buying the winning ticket, silly!"

"Well, that's one way to put it," Verge mumbled to Sashi.

As they entered his house, the four marveled at how much bigger it was from the inside. "This is awesome!" Verge exclaimed.

"Wow!" Penn cried out. "Is that, a gift shop? Larry!"

As they stared, they heard the something that sounded like a tiny trumpet. They looked and saw a small elephant run over and jump into Larry's arms happily.

Larry grinned. "Rippen, say hello to my teacup elephant, Tony."

The part-time villain only stared blankly. "I'd rather drown in a pool of balsamic vinegar."

"That's just his way of saying he loves you," Larry whispered.

"He's so cute!" Verge squealed.

Larry smiled. "Aww, thanks! Here!"

Verge eagerly took Tony, who trumpeted in her face. She only laughed and rubbed his little elephant head.

Suddenly, there was another voice in the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, snack is served." A man in a suit was standing there waiting by what looked like a rollercoaster.

"Whoa!" Sashi gasped. "You have a butler?"

"Young lady, you are mistaken!" A blonde woman, also in a suit, came over and stood by the smaller man. "He's not Master Larry's butler! _I _am."

"Um, then who's that?"

"He's _my_ butler."

"That's so cool!" Verge giggled. "Your names are…"

"I am Matthews. This is Fredricks. We have served Master Larry for quite a while now."

"So awesome. I wish _my butler _had a butler."

Penn raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you have a butler?"

"Yeah. You." The fairy only laughed as Penn socked her in the arm.

Sashi and Verge rode in the same car as they boarded the rollercoaster. Verge looked like the only one who was excited about it. Matthews cleared her throat as Fredricks held up a microphone for her. "Please keep hands and feet inside the cars at all times."

Penn scoffed, turning to Boone. "Yeah, better gotta be careful on the kiddie train, am I—"

Just as soon as he said that, the ride started, and they were zooming at rocket speed through Larry's mansion. It appeared that Verge and Larry were the only ones enjoying.

"Yeah!" Verge shouted out, while Sashi tried not to scream.

As they continued to ride, Verge's fairystincts perked up. She heard a certain beeping and tried listening closer. It didn't help when Penn was screaming and Sashi had her eyes closed. She looked at the MUHU and the Specs and could've sworn she saw them glowing.

"Uh, guys, I think your—"

She was interrupted when the ride suddenly got faster. The tension of the air didn't give her the chance to speak.

It finally came to a stop at Larry's dining area. Everyone but Larry panted heavily.

Then Verge jumped up. "That was awesome! Let's do it again!"

Larry chuckled. "Well, we have to on the way back~"

Everyone took their seats as the butlers set out the snacks.

* * *

"Ahaha!" Larry laughed as he was telling a joke a few minutes later. "And so he says, 'No! It's Duckfer!'" He burst out into laughter while the others just stared boredly. Verge didn't even listen, as she and Boone were trading their steaks and mashed potatoes.

Rippen sighed. "You can't just shout random punch lines to jokes and expect people to figure out the set-up!"

Penn smirked. "Oh, _you_ can tell a joke?"

"Darn right I can! Here's one! What do you call a chef with bananas in his ear? …Anything you want! He can't hear you! Ahahahaha! He can't hear you!" As Rippen laughed, everyone else just stared at him, with confused, sad, and unimpressed looks. "B-Because of the bananas in his…"

"_Wank wank wank," _Verge coughed.

"…Oh, how I despise each of you so."

Suddenly, Fredricks the butler came into the room. "I-I'm afraid I have some terrible, terrible news."

"Fredricks!" Matthews scolded, also entering. "This information is too important for a butler's butler to announce!" She was calm for one second before shouting out, _"Master Tony is missing!"_

As Verge drank her water, she spit it out once she heard the news. _"What?! _I've always wanted to do that…" Her friends only stared at her.

"The elephant?" Rippen asked.

Larry gasped. "Oh no!" He panicked for a bit as he took Penn and Rippen's hands. "OK, let's all make a vow right now that finding Tony is the number one priority in our lives!" Everyone just stared at him. "…Uh, I'll give whoever finds him a twenty-five dollar gift card to A Little Piece of Larry!"

"Why would I want twenty-five dollars worth of Larry merch?" Rippen asked.

"Wait, you guys aren't dating or anything?" Verge blurted out. Everyone suddenly turned to her again, now wide-eyed with disbelief. Verge looked at them, chuckling a little nervously. "I need to stop talking today…"

"…To answer your question, I'm not doing it."

"Is little Rippy afraid of a little competishy?" Penn challenged, smirking.

Rippen smiled back. "Oh, _contraire_. Rippy _welcomes_ competishy."

"All right, let's do this!" Larry said frantically. He pushed Rippen out of the dining area while Penn did to his teammates.

"Hurry! We can't let Rippen find that elephant first!"

"This isn't a mission," Sashi reminded. "The fate of the world doesn't depend on this?"

"No! But the fate of our bragging rights does! Now, who will follow me on this medial task?! _Come on!"_

Verge, Sashi, and Boone all exchanged looks, knowing they were all thinking if Penn had lost it.

Penn opened a random door and ran right in. He yelped and stepped back when he realized there was a cliff. He looked downwards and heard hissing down there. "Seriously? A snake room?" he asked in disbelief.

"Technically it's not a 'snake room'," Boone noted. "'Cause it's also full of bats."

He pointed upwards, and all the bats that were hanging on the ceiling squeaked and flew after them. The quartet screamed as they exited the room.

"Verge, why couldn't you tame them?" Penn asked.

"…Huh. Why didn't I? I mean, I don't tell you everything."

They paused for a breather, until Sashi noticed something in the corner. She smiled and pointed. "PZ, I think this is a sign that we should stop looking for Tony." The four of them marveled upon the many lights Larry's mini arcade beheld. And of course, the games.

Boone squealed slightly. "Tell my mom I'll send for fresh underwear and flip-flops!"

As he and Sashi walked away, Penn didn't. "Then I guess it's all up to me!"

"And me," Verge said, crossing her arms. "I'm just in it for the elephant. That guy's too cute to go missing. You can gloat at Rippen after."

Penn only smiled at that. "Awesome. Come on!"

They ventured through Larry's halls, wondering why there were so many doors. "Where do you think would be a good place to look?"

"Let's check the greenhouse," Verge suggested. "Maybe he went there."

"Why do you think so?"

"I don't know, fairy guides don't know everything!"

They did end up at the greenhouse door and Penn opened it. But once they saw everything, they thought it was more of a jungle than one. "Wow," Penn said. "Should've brought my jungle wear and pit helmet."

"This place is _actually_ peaceful," Verge noted. "Do you think Larry would give it to me if I asked?"

"Come on, Larry's not _that _nice."

"Are you _questioning _Larry's niceness?"

Penn only scoffed. "Hello?!" he called out. "Agh!"

"What?"

They suddenly bumped into someone's hanging legs. "Psst!" Fredricks whispered, dropping in front of them. "Master Zero, Mistress Verge. I know the whereabouts of Master Tony. And I'm afraid foul play is afoot! All things point to…Matthews!"

"_Aha!" _Penn exclaimed.

Verge, who suddenly started drinking water, spit it out at the news. _"What?!"_

"…Really, Verge? Really?"

"What?"

"So, the butler _did _do it! A little cliché, but I'll go with it. Speaking of cliché, this all sounds a little familiar, don't you think Verge? Remember Lakely?"

"Zero, please. Get over it already."

"She's keeping Master Tony in her quarters!" Fredricks explained. "Hurry! I'll take you to them now!"

"Oh, that won't be necessary," The three suddenly turned to find Rippen emerging from the bushes. He'd heard everything. "I know the way."

He then poked something on the ground. That's when Verge realized where they were standing on. "Look out!" she shouted.

But it was too late. The Venus Fly Trap and swallowed them inside it, giving Rippen the chance to take the victory for his own. Verge heard him leaving them.

"Argh!" Penn grunted, struggling to keep the plant from chewing them. "Verge!"

"On it!" As the redhead let go, Verge used her garden magic to keep the Venus Fly Trap still. She grunted a little, but she managed to carry the weight. Fredricks stared at he also let go.

"Will she be all right?" he asked. Luckily, he still didn't know Verge was a fairy.

"Don't worry," Penn said, nodding. "We need to get out of here and save that genetically modified peewee-sized elephant!"

"Master Tony is perfectly safe. I'm worried about us!"

Those words made Penn hesitate. "I'm sorry, wait wait wait. How do you know 'Master Tony' is safe?"

"Oh, um…wishful thinking, I suppose."

"What's that?" Verge asked, noticing the rag he'd wiped his sweat on. But it wasn't even a rag.

"Wait a second," Penn took it and examined it. "That's Tony's adorable little beanie!"

"What's going on and why are you copying Tony's fashion sense?"

Fredricks gave in. "All right, all right! I absconded with Master Tony and framed Matthews! But she had it coming, when Master Larry promoted her over me! You have no idea how much it hurts to be constantly outdone by someone!"

"No," Verge said slowly, turning to Penn. "No we don't." He didn't even need to look at her face to know what she was thinking. "But we still need to get out of here. I can't shrink the plant, or we'll die with it. But…"

Verge reached into Penn's bag and took a certain can out. Penn looked at it and grinned, looking at Verge thankfully.

Then he turned to Fredricks. "Maybe I don't know, old bean. But I think I know how to get us out of here."

They all held their breaths as Penn opened Boone's can of pickled chum. The Venus Fly Trap smelled it, got disgusted, and spit the three of them out of its mouth.

"Oh, gross!"

Using magic, Verge stood and quickly drenched them all with water, getting the fly trap spit off. Then she secretly conjured up a gust of wind, immediately drying them.

"Amazing," Fredricks noted. "Thank goodness you had a water jug with you, Mistress Verge."

"…Uh, yes. A water jug, is what I had…"

"Great job, Verge." She and Penn did a fist bump. "Come on! Let's go!"

Fredricks quickly lead the two friends over to Matthews' headquarters, where they saw Sashi tying her up to a chair. "I'm innocent, I tell you, there's no need for wrap treatment!"

"She's telling the truth," Fredricks spoke up, as everyone turned to him. "I did it. I took Master Tony."

"Ha!" Rippen cried out, opening the closet. _"I _found the elephant!"

But there was nothing there. "Where did he go? Victory was mine!"

They then heard a trumpet from outside. They all turned to see Tony walking towards a certain door. "No, Master Tony!" Fredricks shouted. "Don't go in the snake room that also has bats!"

"We gotta help!" Verge said, untying Matthews, much to Sashi's disappointment. "Can't believe they'd risk all this for a gift card!"

"I know right?" Larry gasped. He didn't seem to notice the sarcasm.

Once Matthews was free again, they all ran to the snake and bat room, where they now saw that Rippen had gotten Tony. "Ahahaha! I wi—"

He spoke too soon. The bats had noticed Rippen and knocked him down, making him like a bridge between two columns. Penn happily walked over him and took Tony. "You lose again, Rippen!"

"_No! _Oh, I was so close!"

Penn grinned proudly. But then he stopped and thought as he looked at Tony. His smile slowly turned to a frown. He looked at Rippen, who was trying to get himself to get back up.

"Zero!" Without thinking, Verge dove in.

"Verge!" Sashi shouted. "Your vest!"

She didn't need to take it off. The fairy still had dust. She secretly dusted herself, managing to fall down to the ground safely without revealing her wings. She landed just before the small column Penn stood in. She looked up at him with a small smile, as if they secretly exchanged a conversation.

Penn understood immediately and sighed. "Come on, Penn." He looked back at Verge and nodded.

The fairy put two fingers into her mouth and whistled. The bats reacted again and this time knocked Penn down. "Ah! Oh, bats, oh no!"

As he fell, he dropped Tony, but Rippen managed to catch him. Even if the drop was small, Verge was there to catch Penn bridal-style, and she grinned at his fake actions. He smiled back as she helped him stand back up.

"Haha! I won, I beat you! I won, yes! I won, you lose!"

Penn and Verge only smiled as they exchanged another glance.

They climbed up the ladder, which appeared to be right there in the snake and bat room. Boone and Sashi helped the two up, grinning proudly at them as they left and went watched Rippen get his prize.

* * *

"Question," Rippen said, as he and Penn exited Little Piece of Larry. "Who's Number One? Well, if this oversized novelty hand is to be believed, it's me! Hahaha! Oh, all this winning sure makes me itchy. Hahaha! Yes! Me!"

As Rippen went and gloated, Verge also exited the gift shop, reading a book that looked like was written by Larry. "Who knew he had some time," Verge muttered, looking at Penn. The redhead only rolled his eyes.

"It's OK, PZ," Sashi said. "We'll get him next time."

"_Number One! Finally!"_

Penn smiled as he turned to his friends. "You know Sash, I'm OK. Winning isn't everything."

Verge closed her book and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Well said, Zero. Well said." Penn smiled.

* * *

**I'm gonna admit. I'm feeling pretty bummed out. Have been so for the past few days. I've been getting lack of views lately. I said this in my Starco fic, but I really hope you guys like this story in your hearts ^^ See you in future episodes!**


	27. Lady Starblaster

**Episode 22: Lady Starblaster**

* * *

**OK, I just **_**had**_** to post this early! I absolutely loved it, I don't even xD I'm probably going to post the next episode in two or three days' time. I loved them so much I did not think it was possible for me to both laugh and cry at the same time. Don't read if you don't wanna be spoiled!**

**But to those who might read this, here's a little fun fact about Verge: You all know Divergent the book by Veronica Roth, right? I absolutely loved the series, but it appears my mom was in love with the movie more than I was. While I was thinking of a good name for the new fairy OC I was planning up, my mom was watching Divergent and fangirling about it. We were laughing together and then it hit me. What better name for a fairy with powers unlike any fairy than the name Divergent? And from then, I nicknamed her Verge.**

**That's all for now! Enjoy!**

* * *

You could hear the music from miles away. You could see the lights brighten up the entire building. Because tonight was Middleburg dance night.

Sashi was tap-dancing away on the dance floor. She was though, at the same time, beating up the school's mascot as usual. Boone was also dancing "the robot" as he made what appeared to be robot noises.

"Did someone order a robot?" he said in monotone robot voice. "I hope this does not offend any actual robots!"

Meanwhile, Principal Larry was getting his groove on, dancing like he was still in the 70's. Penn smirked and picked him up, as he started his own dance as well. "Hope you like your salsa hot!" he said as he spun Larry away. "'Cause these hips are on _fi-yah!"_

He held his hand out to one of his classmates, who took it bashfully, as they started to salsa on the dance floor. "Ooh! Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay! _Muy caliente!"_

He spun the girl away, and she sighed dreamily.

As Penn continued to dance, he felt someone tap his shoulder and turned to see his best friend. "Mind if I take a dance?" she asked, half-jokingly.

Penn grinned as she spun and tipped him like a real salsa dance. The friends laughed as they just enjoyed their dancing and spinning.

"Just like old times?" Penn asked.

"Just like old times." Verge smirked as she started to spin him again. In the corner of her eye, she saw Rippen at the punch table, appearing to be talking to himself. And he was looking grumpier than usual.

"Hyah!" Verge decided to let go as she sent Penn flying. Penn seemed to understand as he did a little backflip onto the food table, knocking the punch bowl off of it and onto the part-time villain. Rippen glared at both of them.

"Sorry, Rip!" Verge called, not really sorry.

* * *

The next day, Penn apparently still felt like dancing because he couldn't stop bragging about his infamous feet. "Tap-dancing sounds best when in the bathroom," he said. "But _I _can swing anywhere!"

He then took Phyllis and picked her up. "Come on, girl!" As he swung her around, Phyllis' eyes widened. But Penn didn't mind.

"So he's this energetic?" Sashi whispered as they watched them.

Verge shrugged. "You have no idea."

Phyllis actually smiled as Penn flung her onto her own mechanic platform. "Whoo. I feel like I am a thousand and forty again."

As she started the MUHU up, Verge had to stare. "A thousand and—that's how old you are?"

"Don't question it," Bone advised, as they got zapped.

* * *

When Verge saw her clothes, she realized she was wearing armor similar to Sashi's, only in golden and black colors. They all stared at the vast ocean that was in front of them, a little surprised.

"Cool! Beach day!" Penn cheered. "And what am I wearing…huh."

"I feel like I have déjà vu," Verge murmured. "Haven't we been here before?" Her friends only looked at her and shrugged.

Suddenly, they looked at the ocean again and saw it starting to rise. It swirled around like it was being sucked up, and the quartet later realized that it was.

"Sashi…Specs? The checking of them?"

"All right! The water from our home planet is being stolen by a ship sent by a space dictator, Count Destructo. We have to get it back."

"OKs!" Verge cheered, feeling determined. "Let's do thi—" Suddenly at that moment, the fairy paused as she seemed to be listening to something. Her fairystincts were acting up, as her ears twitched in concentration.

"What is it, Verge?" Boone asked.

"Captain Destupid isn't alone."

"Count Destructo," Sashi corrected. "That's-that's what I said."

"There's another one. Look!"

Verge pointed upwards and saw that the water was being sucked from another location. "Whoa!" Penn gasped. "Another ship? Where do you think that's coming from?"

It must've been his imagination, or maybe Verge was smirking? "I don't tell you everything."

"Aw, come on! This is a mission!"

"Just get in the ship!"

The four all got into the spaceship that was with them and set course into space. Verge was staring really intently at the other spaceship. "I detect the presence of another villain that _isn't_ Rippen. And there's something about her form that seems a little off…"

The fairy trailed off from her sentence, which worried the other three about it. "Verge, you all right?" Sashi asked.

"Huh? Of course I am. Why?"

"_You_ seem a little off," Boone noted.

"Pfft. What? No. I just noticed something."

"Noticed what?"

Verge smirked at her friends. "We might have a greater advantage than usual today."

That made the three grin. "Not that this information isn't important, but it isn't important," Penn said proudly. "We'll win like always."

"Over there!" Sashi pointed, at what looked like the back entrance of the enemy spaceship.

"Huh. Good work, Sash. Maybe this mission _will_ be easy."

Once they made their way inside and landed, Verge got out of the ship first to scan the area. "This place is gonna be overrun with robots," she informed. "We need disguises."

The four started to snoop around, and they found three perfect outfits. "Lady Starblaster invited Count Destructo to a party and we're in charge of the hor d'oeuvres," one robot was telling two of his friends.

"Sashi," Verge whispered. "This is your debut."

The girl grinned at that as she climbed up a spaceship.

"Hyah!" She then jumped off, shooting a laser from her armor and started knocking the robots out, literally taking them apart

"All right," Penn turned to Boone. "When Sashi's done, we'll use the parts to disguise ourselves as waiter bots. Then, we go to the party and figure out how to get the water back!"

"Got it," Boone nodded.

"Hey, Boone," Verge smirked. "Here's your chance to be a _real_ robot."

"Awesome!"

The fairy then flew over to the now broken robots and tsked at their broken bodies. "This will take some work."

Penn nodded. "Come on."

As her friends carried their costumes, Verge flew around until she found the party area. She gasped when she saw the many aliens there, and even gasped when she actually recognized some of them. But she quickly shook her head as she stole some food trays and brought them back for her friends.

By then, they were ready to put the robot heads on. "All right, you guys know the plan," she said, handing them the trays. "So, I know how Lady Starblaster looks like. All we need to do is find her and she might just lead us to the water."

"OK, let's do this!" Verge then helped Boone put his robot head on and Penn helped put Sashi's. Verge, still small, joined him inside his robot suit as Boone then helped Penn.

Now all covered, the four of them entered the party.

As they separated, Verge tried looking through the robot eyes with Penn as she searched for Lady Starblaster. "OK, first we have to look for Rippen," she whispered.

Penn was confused. "Why Rippen? I thought he wasn't really a threat today."

"Oh, he is. He's collaborating with the Lady. And I think he likes her~"

"How do you know this stuff?"

"I don't tell y— Oh right, I already said that today. Well, I guess my fairystincts are getting a little stronger because I'm starting to feel emotions."

"From all the way in outer space?"

"Pretty much. Oh hey, there's Rippen."

Penn turned to find said part-time villain just entering the room. "I'm going in," he said, walking forward, clearing his throat into those a robotic one's.

"Hello. May I offer you a space rat on a cracker? It's so delicious."

"Yes, thank you." He stared at it for a while before eating it whole. "Hmm. Yeah, that's good space rat."

Suddenly, as Larry was supplying his arms with crackers, Verge heard laughter. She didn't need to get out of the robot head to know that voice anywhere. "Zero," she whispered. "That's Lady Starblaster. Get closer to her."

"On it!"

"Man, these crackers are _delicious!" _Larry cheered, taking a few more. "You know what else is delicious? Steak, mac and cheese, hamburgers…"

As the list when on and on, Verge couldn't help groaning as she buried herself through Penn's hair. "Man, that guy can talk."

"Oh, um," Penn said loudly in his robot voice. "Shouldn't you be with your partner over there?"

"Oh, yeah!" Larry grinned. "He's trying to win over your Lady Starblaster over there!" As Larry flew off, Verge gave Penn a thumbs up as they followed later on.

"Count Destructo should be here any minute," Lady Starblaster was saying. "I have invited him to watch my most horrendous achievement yet! Once the container is filled with all the stolen water, it will automatically drop off, into the planet, knocking it into its neighboring planet, and so on and so on and so on, destroying the entire solar system!"

The villainess let out an evil laugh at her brilliant plan.

"Yeesh," Verge muttered. "This girl's wack in the head, wasting water like that."

"Kiss her!" Larry whispered at Rippen.

The villain rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Uh, I…uh…"

And that's when Rippen noticed some differences about three certain robots. "What?"

Penn and verge exchanged worried looks. "Please ignore my two sets of human-looking eyes."

That didn't seem to work. "Lady Starblaster. It seems we have a hug—uh, I mean a kiss—uh! I mean, a date night—I mean a hero in our midst! And his undying love—ugh, I-I mean his sidekicks!" He laughed nervously.

"Oh wings." Once they were exposed, before Verge could even fly away, a real robot reached up and trapped her in its hand. "Aw, really? This again?"

Lady Starblaster only smiled. "Well done, Captain." She pressed a button on her armor, and four lasers came out and were aimed at the heroes. Nowhere to run now. "I usually go over five minutes how much I'm going to hate someone. But I'm hating you slightly less than I thought I would."

Rippen chuckled and sighed dreamily at that. "Hey, lady," Verge called. "Mind flirting elsewhere?"

The villainess only squinted her eyes up at her. "A space fairy," she murmured. "Your kind is always cocky, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't know. Never really met all of them. Just one, and I suppose he was particularly cocky?"

"Take them to the pump room. Let them watch the last of the planet's precious water be pumped, and throw them in with it! When you're done, meet me back here for a dance."

When she smiled, Rippen just had to smile back. "Dance…?"

As his friends frowned at their state, Penn actually had an idea form in his mind.

Once they were all out of their disguises, cuffed, and dragged to the pump room, Penn could clearly see Rippen's nervousness showing off. "Oho, looks like someone's going to dance his life away tonight," he grinned. "What have you got planned? A foxy four-step? A straight-leg scorpion? A little limby-hop, perhaps?"

"That's none of your business," Rippen snapped. Then he got a worried expression again. "Oh, I'm going to look like a fool in front of the woman of my bad dreams…I don't know how to dance."

That's just what Penn was hoping he'd say. "I could teach you."

"You have to accept," Larry put in. "Penn won Middleburg's Snazziest Feet Award three years runnin'!"

Verge coughed. "Onlywithmyhelp."

"That's not true!" Penn protested.

"Riiiiiiight, keeptellingyourselfthat."

Rippen hesitated as he glared. "OK, fine! Let's just do this real quick and then I'll shoot you out into the vacuum of space!"

"All right. Sounds good. Principal Larry? Some tango music if you please?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

Larry uncuffed Penn and brought out a violin. As he started to play, Rippen glared at Penn again when he saw him uncuff Verge. "What are you doing?"

"Now, just relax. First, you're gonna wanna have to look at how Verge and I do it"

"I do?"

"He does?" Verge questioned.

"Yeah! If he's gonna understand, he needs to see how it looks." Penn bowed to her and took her hands, as he put them into proper position, still to her confusion. Penn smiled as he took the lead, first starting slow to show how it was done. The two danced to Larry's music, while Rippen was a little confused. But he still watched intently as the duo followed the beat.

"Just like old times?" Penn whispered.

Verge chuckled a bit as she watched her feet. "I don't think this is _anything_ like we used to do, but sure." She smiled a bit as she looked into his eyes.

"Oh, come on. You know the drill. Slow, slow, quick quick, slow…"

They did the same thing for a few times as Rippen nodded through it all. Sashi and Boone grinned at each other. After Penn finally spun Verge away, she chuckled as she flew back over to her friends. Penn winked before turning to Rippen. The part-time villain was slightly surprised as he saw his hand held out.

"Now, your turn."

Penn bowed again, making Rippen roll his eyes, as he then took his hand. "Your hands, they go back here and over here. And we just go like this. Slow, slow, quick quick, slow."

"…Slow, slow, quick quick, slow…"

As the two practiced, Verge watched as Larry neared the three and pointed upwards. Boone and Sashi understood and lifted their hands, as the fire from Larry's jetpack uncuffed them. Verge quickly flew upwards, bringing the small man down, before he could even realize what was happening. Sashi had covered his mouth, and Boone took the violin this time. As Larry shouted muffled screams, the two girls grinned.

"…A little faster now?"

"Yes."

"Excellent! And try leading me by pushing slightly with your hand!"

"All right!"

"Great!"

"Ah, yes!"

"That's it! You're doing it!"

"Aha! I'm doing it! By Joe, I think I'm—"

Rippen cut himself off when he saw Sashi aiming her armor gun at him. "…Oh, of course."

Verge flew over to Penn and gave him a tiny-fist bump. Penn grinned.

The fairy found some special ropes and gave them to Sashi, who tied up the villains with sheer delight. "We'll have our next lesson in Middleburg," Penn said. "After _we_ have returned the water to the planet."

"I don't think so!"

The four gasped when they turned to the door and saw none other than Lady Starblaster glaring at them. She was looking at Rippen especially. "Never send a man to do a woman's job."

Sashi glared as she and Verge stood side by side. "I couldn't agree more!"

As the three charged at each other, Sashi first sent a blast from her gun at the villainess. The Lady dodged it easily as she sent one back. Verge reacted first and used protection magic, giving Sashi the opportunity to kick the woman down.

Verge tried to help by summoning vines to wrap around the Lady. She gasped at that, letting Sashi fire another blast. But the villainess still had the strength to shield herself. Using her gun again, she easily broke through the vines, and fired another laser at Sashi, who had to back-flip dodge from it.

It was now a war of shields, and the Lady won as she attempted to push Sashi into the water. Verge was a little annoyed she wasn't getting a little bit of recognition as she summoned some water from below. A hydro fist came bursting out and punched the Lady in the face, distracting her again, as she spit water out.

Sashi was able to escape again as she rolled away. When the Lady shot a blind laser at her, the girl merely dodged it, took the villain and flung her away.

"_Hyah!"_

"_Ahhh!"_

Lady Starblaster gasped as she dangled at the edge, right above the planet's water. Verge summoned one more hydro hand, as it tried to pull the Lady right in. But even liquid couldn't get a firm grasp. The Lady had a firm grasp, but there was no way she could hold on for much longer.

"Let's move!" Verge commanded, as she guided her friends to the elevator.

Once there, the two girls high-fived.

"Sashi," Boone said. "I am absolutely terrified of you."

As the doors closed, Verge pouted. "Aw, what about me?"

"Well, sure, but I mean, Sashi."

Penn grinned as he ruffled Verge's hair. "Who could possibly be afraid of you~?"

Verge could only respond as she conjured another hydro fist while looking at them knowingly. The boys decided to keep silent.

They quickly boarded their ship and blast off into space as they watched the last drop of water get sucked into the container. As the ship finally let go of it and all the planet's water dropped, Penn could only smile.

"Got to watch Rippen fumble around, do some dancing…and now this? Pretty fun too."

Penn pressed the one single button that released the rocket, and the quartet watched as it exploded into the container, creating a giant hole in it, and therefore returning all the water back like so.

"Quadruple fist bump."

The four grinned as they got zapped back home.

* * *

Penn and Verge were laughing as they were dancing again to tango music that night. The two friends didn't seem to stop laughing about the fact Rippen actually fell in love.

"Oh, how I pity him," Verge chuckled. "Too bad he couldn't see how much she was using him."

"Well, maybe Rippen will find _real_ love one day," Penn said.

"I'd like to see the day that would happen." Verge giggled as she spun Penn again, taking the lead. "Tell me again why we're doing this?"

"Just for fun," Penn smirked. "I mean, if you say we've never done this, then we have to do so often, right?"

Verge rolled her eyes as he spun her. "Just remember this was all your idea, Mr. Snazzy Feet."

The two friends continued to just be themselves that night.

* * *

**Can I just say again that I laughed **_**so hard**_** throughout this entire episode? Like, so hard, you won't even believe xD Plus the episode showed a little RipPenn shipping! If people even ship that lol. **


	28. Amber

**Episode 23: Amber**

* * *

**Deciding the plot for this story was really difficult. It made me cry a little (OK a lot) and I wanted everything to be perfect. Amber's so pretty omgods I love her :3 I think today's episode was a little fail, but then again, most of the new ones are xD Since the real episode didn't really have a starting point or anything, I made my own! I do that some times, don't I heh xP Enjoy~**

* * *

"_Whoa! Gah! Quit it!"_

"Huh?"

When Penn ran out of his house and scanned his front yard, he gasped when he saw a certain small fairy being chased by what looked like a giant hawk.

"Verge?! Where did this hawk come from?!"

"I have no idea!" Verge yelped a bit as she ducked another hawk attack. It screeched, continuing to swoop down and attempting to bite her. "I think one of our neighbors bought one!"

* * *

_~Elsewhere~_

"Screechy?"

* * *

"Hyah!" Verge summoned her garden power and the flowers on some grass seemed to grow longer and tie the hawk down. It screeched again, and started to bite through the stems, trying to break free. Verge seemed confident now as she prepared for a grand finale.

"Whoa!" Penn quickly took the hawk and picked it up, not caring if it started to peck him. "Ow, ow, ow…"

"Well, _now_ you help?"

"What were you _thinking? _Why didn't you go human size?!_"_

"Don't be a sourpuss, I just wanted to return the hawk to its owner! Thought a little fairy magic could tame him…Look, I had it in the bag!"

"You know hawks are fairy enemies! I'll ask Uncle Chuck to find his owner, but now we've got to check you for injuries."

"I'm fine _now, _Zero! Nothing to worry about."

"But you could've died!"

"I didn't! I had it under control!"

"You call screaming and running away under control? Look, you have a broken wing!"

"It's not _broken, _it's just a little sore. It'll heal."

"Stop being stubborn! We need to get it fixed."

"Stop being overprotective! I said I'm _fine!"_

"Just because you being small doesn't always mean you're _fine!"_

The two glared at each other, and it wasn't exactly easy with Verge being so small. "Ahem." They turned and suddenly found Boone and Sashi staring at Penn like he was crazy.

"…Verge. Smaller."

"You do know you look like a lunatic from afar, right?" Sashi said bluntly.

"I'm sure he was aware," Verge grumbled, going big sized and putting her vest on. "Just handle the hawk and let's get to our mission. I'm walking ahead."

Once Verge was out of sight, the two looked at Penn for answers. "It's just another fight," Penn said, waving a hand. "She'll get over it. Go ahead, I'll catch up with you guys."

Once Penn was gone, Boone and Sashi exchanged a look and followed the fairy.

They all reunited at the Odyssey, with Verge still being silent and avoiding eye contact with anyone. As they all stepped onto the platform, Phyllis called out to them.

"OK, today you go back to world you have visit before."

"Well then this should be a piece of cake!" Penn exclaimed.

"No! Piece of Cake World you will never go back to. So much blood…"Verge didn't even have a comment this time, and the three exchanged a look at that. "Good luck!"

With that, they got zapped.

* * *

"Whoo! Dinosaur Cowboy World!" Penn cheered. "Yee-ha! Ah, I miss this place."

"Did you miss me, Hawkosaur?" Verge whispered at her dino. "Hawkodactyl? Whatever they call you."

"Big Butt!" Boone cheered as well. "What up?!"

"Butte," Sashi pointed. "It's pronounced Butte."

Verge examined the small, peaceful town and was a little confused. Everything seemed to be in order. It didn't look like the place needed saving. "This place is almost just as we left it," she noted.

When she saw Boone had just finished milking his cow and had a full bucket with him, she almost facepalmed. "Ah, nothing like freshly squeezed dino milk."

"Guys," Sashi said with seriousness. "Just because we've been here before doesn't mean this mission will be easy. Rippen's been here before too."

"And we smoked him!" Penn said. "So check the Specs, Sash, 'cause unless Rippen has concocted some game-changer to win this time—"

"_Sashi, look out!"_

Verge was a little too late with giving out the information. A giant claw swooped down and plucked Sashi off of her dino, lifting her into the air. "Sashi!" Penn gasped.

"Hawkosaur!" Verge commanded.

The fairy's dino screeched, and flew at the giant dino. From there, Verge could see the rider controlling it.

"Game-changer?" Rippen laughed. "Ya'll can't win the mission if ya'll don't know what it is!"

The two flying dinos were clawing at each other, screeching and howling. "Sashi, hang on!" the fairy called.

But it was Verge that needed hanging on. The Pteranodog reached over and nipped the Hawkosaur at its wing. Hard The flying dino screeched in pain as both it and Verge started to fall.

"_No!"_

"_Verge!" _Sashi shouted.

"Verge!" Penn quickly got off his dino and went to help the fairy up. "Why didn't you fly?!"

Verge only ignored him and groaned as she held her head. She gasped when she saw her dino's state. It lifted its head, moaning, before collapsing back on the ground.

"Oh no!"

"Helmet!" Larry sang, putting one on Sashi.

"_Verge! Penn!" _

"_Sashi!" _Verge shrieked, trying to fly. But Penn held her back.

"Sash?!" he yelled. But the Pteranodog was already out of their sight.

"Where did they take her?!" Boone panicked. "How are we gonna win the mission if Sashi didn't tell us what the mission is?! Why am I yelling everything I'm worried about?!"

Verge bit her lip, gaining determination as she knew the only right thing to do. "I'm going after th—"

"Are you crazy?!" Penn shouted. "They could get you too!"

"Zero, I have to—"

"No, we're not going to risk you getting captured." Verge almost looked ready to explode. "Wait. I know who can help us! The same guy we helped last time we were here! Sheriff. Scaly. Briggs!"

"Then let's go!" Boone shouted. Then he paused. "Uh, which way to get to him?"

"Follow me," Verge said. "I think I can track him." But then she remembered her dino and frowned. "I can't leave him here though."

"Take him over to Crazy Bubba's. He'll be better there."

"…All right."

Once Verge made sure the dino was all safe and treated, she lead her friends over to the place she believed the Sheriff was in. "He's right around—Gasp!"

"What is it?" Penn asked.

When they went inside his house, they gasped as well. For Sheriff Scaly Briggs was found in a coffin.

"Oh, this is terrible!" Boone cried.

"Shh!" Verge hushed, suddenly growing a flower and handing it to Penn. "The dead need their rest."

"Oh, Scaly," Penn sighed, as they were gathered around him. "I didn't know ya long, but I really admired everything you stood for. Rest in peace, my friend."

The moment he set the flower, the Sheriff burped, and his teeth came out and bit him in the cheek. This caused Verge to yelp and Boone to shriek.

"_He's alive!"_

Penn gagged. "From the smell of that breath I'm not so sure!" As he put the teeth back, Verge helped the _not-dead_ Sheriff stand up from his "bed".

A man suddenly came out of nowhere and started announcing stuff again as he did last time. "It's weird that Sheriff Scaly Briggs sleeps in a coffin!"

"It's the cheapest bed I could buy!" the old man protested as he straightened his back. "Plus it's great for my back."

"Sheriff Scaly Briggs should have his back examined by a born-certified orthopedist!"

Annoyed, the Sheriff closed his window. "Now if you don't mind, I've got work to do."

"Sheriff Scaly Briggs never got a—"

Scaly shook his keys and the old red dino came in and swallowed the announcing man whole. "Listen, stranger, I'd love to talk, but I gotta board over that skyline."

Penn was confused as he and Verge exchanged a look. "Stranger, what are you—Scaly, it's us! Remember? We helped you save the town's gold and served as a catalyst for your unexpected redemption story? I mean, pretty important to, you know." He got a blank stare in response. "Look, you _have_ a photo of us on your wall."

"I thought that just came with the frame."

"Old man business," Verge muttered. "Don't question it."

"Agh, it doesn't matter. We need your help. Our friend was kidnapped by bandits on a Pteranodog!"

"Look, I'd love to help you ladies, but the town's Cowosaur's keep getting stolen by bandits on a Pteranodog!"

"…That's literally what I just said, I said bandits on a Pteranodog."

"…Well, I wasn't paying attention! Let's ride."

"OK! Come on, Boone, Verge." But then penn suddenly realized they were one person short. And it wasn't Sashi. "Wait, where'd Verge go?" Boone shrugged.

Suddenly, they heard a loud screech and Penn gasped as they all went outside. He stared up in horror at the sky when he saw a certain winged creature riding on another, all-healed winged creature.

"Verge?!"

"Giddyup!" Verge shouted, riding her Hawkosaur. "Sorry, Zero. But I'm doing this _my_ way."

"_Verge!"_

The fairy continued to scan the skies for Sashi. Suddenly, she came across a big barn atop a rock and an old abandoned mine. She saw Sashi trying to fight someone there and couldn't help smiling.

"Yes! This will teach Penn. Hawky, bring me down!"

Her dino screeched, and swooped in. The girl Sashi was fighting gasped when she saw her just drop in before them. "Verge!" Sashi exclaimed, glad her she was all right. When the fairy saw Sashi all tied up, it made her mad.

"Let my friend go!" Verge commanded.

The brunette girl that bested Sashi laughed. "Or you'll do what?" she asked, her Western accent rolling off her tongue.

Verge did the next thing she could do. She summoned a cactus that was growing somewhere and flung it at her face. The girl gasped and rolled away, but Verge didn't stop. She took pieces of the same cactus and got her slingshot, shooting prickly pieces at the brunette.

Unfortunately, even that girl seemed to dodge. She was almost as quick as Sashi. The girl lunged at Verge but the fairy had to fly up to dodge _that _attack. "Cow fairy," she spat.

"I still don't understand where the term _cow_ is in the name…" Verge murmured.

At her distraction, the brunette took her lasso and got Verge tied. As she brought the fairy's body down, she didn't bring down the spirits. Using her force field, Verge easily got out of the ropes. "That all you got?"

"Always carry a back-up!" This time, when the girl flung her lasso, she was aiming at the wings.

"_Gah!"_

"Divergent!" Sashi shouted.

The fairy winced as the brunette finally got to her and took the rope off. "It's OK…I'm all right."

The brunette seemed to laugh at her pain. "That wasn't even my hardest! Fairies are so delicate."

Verge glared up at the girl. "It _will _heal."

"But not in time for me to lock you gals up."

"I see you've met Amber," Rippen said, finally coming out of the barn to greet her. "Our little safety net. Back to the barn! Neither of you are getting anywhere."

"Like we have the choice."

The sun was just starting to set as Amber locked them up in a big cage. Verge was at human size, rubbing her wings to ease the pain. As Sashi helped her, she explained the mission. "Rippen has to steal all the Cowosaurs in Big Butte."

"Really? That's it? That's a dumb mission. But hey, most of ours are."

"With the last Cowosaur with Boone and with the boys coming over to save us, we'll fail!" The dark-haired girl sighed. "I'm sorry I got us into this."

"It's not your fault, Sash," Verge muttered. "It's mine. I guess I should've…ugh, trusted Zero."

Sashi looked at Verge for a good long while. "Verge...are you and Penn all right? Earlier you-"

"We're good, Sashi. It's probably just another thing about my size. I dunno. I don't tell you everything."

"Hold on, can't you shri—"

"Shhh!" Verge hissed, silently pointing at Amber. She may have been outside, but she was still within earshot. "…I guess I just wanted to prove I could take care of myself."

"And you can, Verge. I think Penn was just worried. We all think you're tough." When Sashi smiled, Verge had to smile right back.

"…Thanks, Sash. You're the best. But now I'm a little focused on that Amber girl. She's a little _too _good, don't you think?"

"For a bad guy, I couldn't care less. But her skills _are_ impressive. She knew just where to hit you."

"Hmmm…" Verge continued to think until the sun finally went down.

That night, Amber was practicing her lasso skills by breaking bottles. She seemed to be showing off because she did it in front of Verge and Sashi. "You're a pretty good bad guy," Sashi commented. "How'd you end up on the wrong side of the law?"

"Well, I tried to be a good guy but _someone_ didn't think I was tough enough."

"Ahem." Amber raised an eyebrow at Verge, who had coughed. "Sorry. I just know how you feel."

"Who is it you're trying to impress?" Sashi asked.

Amber handed the two the stick of beef jerky she was eating and the friends split it up. "My pa," Amber took a bite as she continued, "Scaly Briggs."

Sashi's eyes widened as she also chewed with her mouth full. "Sheriff Scaly Briggs?"

"Sheriff Scaly Briggs."

"Sheriff Scaly Briggs?"

"Sheriff Scaly Briggs!"

"Girls," Verge said, when she swallowed her bite. "Please."

Amber sighed. "And I don't wanna talk about it! But I will go to the roof alone and sing my backstory to myself."

She just took a guitar and left.

Sashi and Verge exchanged a look of confusion. "You still want to get out?" Verge asked.

"Oh, yeah. But I guess I can hold it down one night. Go on and see what she's up to."

Verge _finally_ shrunk down to her small size and flew out of the cage. Sashi waved as the fairy quietly flew up to the roof.

Once there, she heard music. Really sad music. And then she realized Amber was singing:

"_Moonlight bright, please light the way  
__My heart longs for ponder days  
__When Pa would take me down the trail  
__See the world from a dino's tail  
__But he'd never let me ride by his side  
__As his deputy  
__To him I was never tough enough  
__So I chose this life of crime for me"_

It was enough to bring a tear to Verge's eye. It didn't really help when her fairystincts acted up. Now, she appeared to hear someone else singing from far away. And later she realized (much to her confusion) that it was the said Sheriff Scaly Briggs' singing along to the same tune:

"_Moonlight bright, won't you light the way  
__My little girl has gone away  
__How could I let her ride with me?  
__Life's too dangerous as a deputy_

_But I sure do miss my Amber so sweet"_

"_I miss him, my Pa, tonight"_

They even started singing together (still for some reason):

"_But he's/she's still 'round, so I sing out this song  
__To the lonesome moonlight bright  
__To the lonesome moonlight bright…"_

Once Amber strummed the last string and Verge finished hearing Penn and Boone crying, she decided to come out of hiding. "That was the sweetest thing I've ever heard!"

Amber whirled around and gasped when she saw the fairy. "What are you—How did ya'll get out?!"

"Uh, cow fairy? I can shrink, grow…didn't your Pa tell ya anything?"

"He rarely does…"

When Verge saw Amber's sad face, she felt her heart soften up. Growing to human size again, she put a hand on the cowgirl's shoulder. "Look, before you toss me back into jail again – I'm sure you know now it needs to be a bit smaller – let me just say one thing. I know what it's like to lose your family."

At those words, Amber paused and stared. "You do?"

"Mm-hmm. Although I was separated from them when I was really young, you still have the chance. Look, I've been misunderstood like you. I know what it's like. But on some days, I just need to learn to understand. I was so obsessed with finding my old family, I forget about my new one. I can't keep running away from a person that really cares about me. And neither can you. Love is supposed to be stronger than anything. You need to _understand_ that you can't let anger get in the way of those that matter to you."

The brunette paused for a moment, not even wanting to look into the fairy's eyes. She sighed as she brought her rope out and tied Verge's hands again. This time, she didn't even fight. "Maybe you're right, fairy. But I chose this life. It's my decision."

As Amber locked Verge again, the fairy only felt a little confidence. Because she recognized the girl's expression now. It was those of one's hesitation.

* * *

The next day, Sashi had to shake Verge's birdcage to get her to wake up. "Huh? What? Where are—"

"Today's the day."

Rippen and Larry seemed to be playing a game in the corner, and Amber was getting real frustrated. "Ugh! What are we waiting for?! We got one last Cowosaur to rustle. Why aren't we rustlin' it?"

"Oh, don't worry. I have a plan."

"_Rippen smells like my Cowosaur's utter!"_

"Ooh, they're here!" Rippen opened the barn door and quickly rushed out. "Get that Cowosaur!"

Sashi struggled to pull at the bars, and suddenly, Penn dropped in. "Zero!" Verge cried.

"Where's Boone?" Sashi asked immediately.

"He and his Cowosaur are distracting Rippen."

"Oh no!"

"Why what'd we do?"

"The mission is rustling all the Cowosaurs," Verge explained. "And now with the last one in his grasp—"

They were too late. Rippen had already cornered Boone. "You brought me the last Cowosaur!"

"Oh wings," Verge muttered. "Quick, open the cage up!"

It took a while, but with some rope and elbow grease, Penn was able to open both the big and small cages. And by then, Sheriff Scaly Briggs had arrived and cornered the villains this time. "Easy, easy," Rippen said. "That prickly pear looks pretty prickly!"

"Your fancy alliteration won't get you out of this situation."

But when the Sheriff directed his slingshot at the third villain, his eyes widened. "Pa?" Amber exclaimed.

The Sheriff didn't say anything. He could only stare at his daughter, all sad-like. He couldn't bring himself to shoot as he lowered his slingshot down. Penn and Sashi stared while Verge sat on Penn's shoulder, actually crying silently.

Rippen just had to ruin the moment. "Yes, well, this was a charming reunion, but it's winning time. There's a new Sheriff in town!" He took the Sheriff's hat, proceeding to put it on Amber's head.

But then something fell out of it. "Aww," Larry cooed. "He kept this sweet picture of them!"

"…Probably because he only liked how _he_ looked."

"Aww, he kept your drawing!"

"Probably just for scrap paper."

"Aww, her baby teeth, baby childhood book, and first spurs, awww!"

"How can all that fit in one hat?" Verge questioned. Penn and Sashi shrugged.

"Larry, you were more helpful with the bag of snakes and avocado."

This was all enough to bring Amber to hug her father. "Oh, I'm sorry, Pa."

Sheriff Scaly Briggs smiled. "The best advice I ever got was don't pass gas in the sauna. But the second best advice was from one of these nameless drifters who I just met who told me I needed to tell you how I feel." When Sashi looked at Penn, he just looked back with confusion. "I was overprotective. But I always knew you were tough."

"Thanks, Pa. I got some good advice too from the cow fairy over there. I should've understood how you felt about me. I let my anger get in the way. But it won't happen again."

"Attagirl," Verge whispered, smiling. Penn reached up and they did a tiny fist-bump.

"Fine!" Rippen said, ruining the moment yet again. "I'm making _me_ the new Sheriff in town! Thank you, Me. I accept. Now, to go win by myself."

Everyone raced out the barn, but Rippen was just too fast. "I'mma lock you up and throw away the key," Scaly taunted.

"You mean that key." Rippen shot a prickly pear at the ring of keys at Scaly's belt. They fell off, creating a jingle, and the T-Rex instantly gulped the old man down.

"Pa!" Amber shouted.

"I'm OK. It's actually more comfortable in here than in the coffin."

"Hee-yah!" Rippen got on Boone's dino, leading it away.

"He's gonna get the last Cowosaur in the corrale!" Penn gasped.

Rippen whistled, summoning his Pteranodog, and it picked him up, taking them both into the sky. "I don't know what's better!" Rippen shouted with glee. "Actually winning, or having a bird's eye view of you people losing!"

"Amber, I wish there was a more proper ceremony," Scaly called from the dino stomach. "But I hereby deputize you!"

Amber grinned. "I'm on it, Pa!"

"Penn, he's gonna win!" Sashi exclaimed.

"I don't think so!" Amber took her rope, but Verge stopped her

"I'm helping you!" Verge declared, flying up.

"What can you do, cow fairy?"

"Save your strength, girl!"

Conjuring a ball of dust, she flung it down over the girl's head. Amber was both surprised and amazed as she started to fly up toward's the dino and land in its saddle. "Time to bust this birdosaur!"

As she tugged the reins, the dino let go of both Rippen and the Cowosaur. _"Nooo!"_

Boone shrieked as his Cowosaur began to fall. But Verge was already there. She swooped right in and quickly dusted the dino. It's falling slowed down, and it gently landed in the hay and onto the ground safely. "Moo."

Unfortunately for Rippen, he wasn't so lucky as he landed in the cow manure. Everyone looked away in disgust.

Amber got off the flying dino, flying back safely into the ground. She landed just before the red dino and scratched at its stomach. Its eyes widened as he threw the Sheriff up. The heroes all smiled at the brunette's bravery.

"Thank you kindly, cow fairy," Amber nodded at Verge.

Said cow fairy smiled and tipped her hat. "Just doing my job. Guiding everyone and all." She looked at her friends as they all exchanged smiles.

"You know," Sashi started, smiling at the cow girl. "for a pretty good bad guy, you're not a bad good guy."

"I didn't really follow that, but thanks."

"Amber, you done good," Sheriff said, smiling as well. "Give your Pa a hug."

"Maybe after you've showered…"

"Oh, that's not a problem," Verge said happily.

She turned to human size and summoned up some water. After she gathered a few, she instantly dumped it over the Sheriff. He spouted out water from his mouth, but he smelled a little better now. Despite him being damp, Amber went over to her father and hugged him tightly. Sheriff Scaly Briggs couldn't help smiling.

Penn and Verge smiled as they looked at each other. But then Verge remembered their situation and looked away. Penn frowned at that. "Verge, I'm sorry, OK? I guess I was overprotective too. I _know_ you can handle things. You just can't have too much of a good thing, right?"

Verge paused for a moment before breaking into a grin and turning back to him. "I'm sorry too. I know now you were just looking out for me."

"Hey. That's what best friends do."

"Yeah, sure, OK." But the fairy softened her smile.

In the background, Boone and Sashi smiled as well.

When Penn held his fist out for a fist bump, she just stared at it for a little while. Instead of bumping it with her own, Verge quickly enveloped him in a hug. Penn was a bit surprised, but he almost immediately hugged her back.

With that, they got zapped back.

* * *

When Phyllis saw the two hugging, she raised an eyebrow. Once they realized they were back home, the two friends quickly moved away, looking away like nothing had happened. Phyllis only sighed.

"I will never understand generation of today."

* * *

**Next episodes come out in June 22! See you guys at the 23****rd****! Hehe ^^ Please remember to leave a review or a favorite~ **


	29. Totally Into Your Body

**Episode 24: Totally Into Your Body**

* * *

**Heeeeey! I was able to post this early! :D Only a little, but it's the thought that counts xD**

**So I _will _post the next episode on Saturday, and the usual drawings that go with it (that again, I post on deviantart) will be posted soon too. I want to thank TheyAllStartedOutOrdinary for coming up with one of the ideas for this particular chapter! I really liked it, because it focused on Verge and Sashi's friendship :3 I almost put Penn x Verge, haha! I'd also like to thank Mjzero06 and Charr2003 for being my top reviewers, along with TASOO. You guys are the best, seriously :3**

**Just a little warning that this could get a little boring tho haha. It might be a little hard to understand, but good luck guys. Aaaaanyway, hope ya'll enjoy~**

* * *

"All musical instruments can be classified into four groups," the music teacher that day was saying. "Percussion, strings, wood winds, and—"

"Troll butts."

Verge winced as she looked down from her hiding in Penn's hair and saw him playing his turn in Phyllis' little monster game. She chose not to participate mostly because she decided to actually _learn _that day. But students like her three friends decided to just slack off.

"Correct!" Sashi said. "Troll butts _are_ a warlock's favorite snack. I also would've accepted unicorn hearts, snickerdoodles, or babies."

"Guys, keep it down a little?" the fairy whispered. "The lesson's interesting."

"Whaaat?" Penn gasped slightly as he picked up a card. "You don't really mean that, do you?"

"Eh. I don't know. Why is now the best time to play this exactly?"

"Because the opposite of _your_ reason: the lesson's boring. OK, Boone. You're up. How do you disembowel a zombie chicken?"

Verge raised an eyebrow at the team Wiseman, who only raised an eyebrow at their game. "I dunno. You're the hero. As long as you know it, the Boones can rock the tunes!"

Penn stared. "Those are uh, those are earmuffs."

"Well if they were earmuffs, how would they play music?"

Penn took the "earmuffs" to see for himself and his eyes widened when he heard something:

"_~This is a real song, coming through the headphones_

_They're not earmuffs, they are headphones!~_

The girls resisted the urge to roll their eyes when it only turned out to be Boone playing an actual song on the keytar at that very moment.

"_~Music! Music!~_

Penn glared and took the earmuffs off. Verge flew off his hair and grabbed Boone's hand. "Stop. Please stop."

That, however, didn't stop Boone. Once they got to the Odyssey, he was still "listening to music" through his "headphones".

"_~Boone…boone boone…"~_

"Uh, Boone?" Penn spoke up. "You're on my spot, so..." But he was too busy singing to hear. "Hey Boone! You're on my spot!"

"Dude, this is my jam! Yeah!"

Penn, Verge, and Sashi were not amused.

"Come on, Wiseman," Verge called out, hovering above them as usual. "Time to—"

Penn beat her to it. He ripped the earmuffs right off and threw them aross the room. Boone glared.

"Dude!"

"_My _spot!"

"My headphones!"

"They're not even real!"

"_Guys!" _Verge flew down to separate them from fighting, but even that didn't work.

"_Hyah!"_

When Sashi tried and kicked them, everyone somehow got affected. Verge was on the platform this time, by Boone's right side, and Penn was on his right. Sashi was kicked off, but when the MUT started, she somehow started to fly over them. Verge gasped when she realized what was happening, but it was too late when Phyllis was ready to zap them.

"_Good luck!"_

* * *

Verge and Sashi appeared to be in a lab. They were wearing identical outfits, but Verge's was green and white while Sashi's was gold. Verge had a stethoscope around her neck, and that caused some confusion.

"Verge?"

"Hey, Sashi...where- What's on your back?"

The brunette was confused, but when she looked behind her, she was surprised to find a set of wings behind her. They weren't golden like Verge's, but they were still amazing. Which could only mean one thing.

"I'm a fairy?" she exclaimed. "Then that means..."

"Let's not finish that sentence just yet. Where are your Specs? And where are Zero and Boone-"

Suddenly, she heard Boone's voice. She didn't know where, but it was just there. _"Sashi?__ Verge?"_

Verge looked at Sashi with a raised eyebrow. The brunette glanced a similar look back at her.

"Guys?" she tried saying. "Hello? Guys? Anyone here? Hello?"

"_Where are you? Verge, Sashi! Do you copy?"_

"Penn? Where are you?" The duo looked around, but still found nothing.

"Penn?" Verge tried.

"_Verge! Are you and Sashi OK?"_

"Uh, yeah…but—"

Verge's eyes widened slightly. "Are you guys ghosts? Are you invisible?" She tried moving her arms around, but Sashi set her hands down.

"_Pretty sure I'm visible. Boone and I can see each other."_

"_The best way to figure something out is to talk louder. VERGE, SASHI! WE AREN'T GHOSTS!"_

"_Gah!" _Verge suddenly heard something really loud and just collapsed on the floor. Sashi's eyes widened.

"Verge?"

She tried helping him up, but her hands were on his ears.

"Boone, stop!"

"_Stop yelling?! Or stop making sense?!"_

"Yelling! Stop yelling! Ah!"

"_All right! But in the future, let's try to be more specific!"_

Verge heard Penn sigh and grab the walkie-talkie. As Sashi helped Verge up, she peered through her ears. "It seems like you have tiny earphones. Only I guess I can hear them too…"

"That _really_ hurt, by the way. Would've preferred regular phones or something!"

_"Sorry, guys,"_ Penn said. _"Sashi, it seems that I have your Specs with me now...I have no idea why."_

"Hmm..." Sashi hummed, tapping her chin. "I think I have an idea...but I don't like it."

"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out," Verge piped in, smiling.

"Right. Penn, check the Specs." Sashi actually smirked. "Huh. Always wanted to say that."

_"Has a nice ring to it, am I right?_" Verge could almost hear him grin._ "OK, we're a science group. An evil doctor is trying to stop us from curing an infected patient." _Suddenly, there was a gasp. _"Uh-oh."_

"Uh-oh?" Verge asked. "Uh-oh what? Is this a rare, good news uh-oh?"

"Is there such a thing?" Sashi questioned.

"Could be?"

"_We've been shrunk down so we can inject the patient from the inside! And the patient is…you!"_

"Wait...who?"

_"You! Verge, we're t_otally_ into your body!"_

"Whoa" was all Sashi could say.

"Hold on, wait," verge said, holding her hands up. "Inside my body? I am _not_ comfortable with this."

_"Ah, it's probably not that bad. You've been sick before."_

"Yeah, but not on a mission! OK... But, out of curiosity, where in me are you?"

"_I'm not sure. But there's a bunch of places I sure hope we aren't."_

"_This makes no sense..." _Verge heard Boone say. _"Why aren't you guys here? Sashi's supposed to be here, she's the sidekick! And Verge is the fairy guide, why is _she_ the patient?"_

"Actually, Boone," Sashi spoke up. "You guys can't see me right now, but I have wings."

_"What?!"_

"She's right," Verge said. "I think Sashi's the fairy guide for today..."

_"But how?!" _

"We were messing around on the launch platform, remember? I ended up on the Wiseman platform..."

_"Then that means..._I'm _not the Wiseman...Verge is, but she's supposed to be the fairy guide!"_

_"But she's not…"_ Penn said. _"Which means...if Verge__'s the Wiseman, Sashi's the fairy guide, I'm the sidekick, and Boone is…" _There was a gasp and a pause.

"…_Finish the sentence! What is Boone?! Happy? Angry? Showered with presents?! Please say presents!"_

"…_The hero."_

More gasping. Verge rubbed the temples on her forehead and took a deep breath.

"Wow…this is just…wow…"

"Whoa" is all Sashi could say again.

_"Oh, boy,"_ Penn sighed again. _"OK, t__his really must've happened because we switched spots on the zap platform, oh Boone, you delightful scamp." _He actually had the courage to laugh, causing Verge to raise an eyebrow. _"Don't worry, guys! We can totally do this. At least I'm still here, so even with positions switched, I can totally still be the hero at heart. Right, ladies?"_

"I…am not sure." Verge looked at Sashi with a worried expression. The brunette shrugged.

"We have no other option."

Boone still sighed in relief. _"Oh, thank goodness. Good thinking, Penn!"_

"What are we supposed to be doing then?" Verge questioned.

Before Sashi could reply, they suddenly heard a crash. "What was that?"

"That couldn't have been inside you, right?"

"It _was. _What exactly…"

They heard a scream and some groans. _"Penn? You're not unconscious, are you?!" _More groaning.

"Boone!" Sashi practically shouted. "What's going on?!"

"_Oh, uh…I might not have Penn, but I can still talk to you and Sashi, Verge!" _

Suddenly, with an explanation Verge couldn't understand, the walkie-talkie exploded, and she instantly put a hand to his ear. "OW!"

"What happened?" Sashi exclaimed.

"We lost them!"

"Oh, no..." Suddenly, Sashi shrunk down to fairy size and started looking around the lab for an extra phone or something. "There has to be something that can get us back to them...!"

The golden-winged fairy actually had the courage to laugh. "You make a good fairy guide so far, Sash. I'm afraid I can't say the same for Boone..."

She could've sworn she heard a tiny girlish scream.

"OK, let's calm down. I'm sure Boone – and by Boone, I mean Penn – has got this!"

"No, he doesn't! You heard earlier! He's unconscious! We're screwed!"

"...Screwed?"

"...You know. In trouble?"

"In fairy speak, we say hawked."

"...Hawked."

"Yeah. I mean...yeah."

Suddenly, the two heard a crash coming from Verge's behind. "Huh?"

Sashi raised an eyebrow, turning around. "What was—"

She didn't even get to finish. Something seemed to attempt and burst out of Verge's stomach. _"Ow!"_

"Verge?!"

"Ah!" Her butt hit the floor, and she just sat there, confused. And a little terrified.

Sashi tried flying up to her. "Verge…?"

In response, something lurched in her as the fairy's skin turned green. Verge started feeling woozy, as something was moving inside her left leg, and that was causing some problems. Verge started flying off the ground, without wings, her leg dragging her, as she was just bumping into lab equipment, screaming as Sashi had to dodge her.

"_What the-"_

"_What's going on?!"_

Sashi grew bigger, and held her hands out in front of her. "I got you!"

Technically, she did. Verge landed right into her, adding weight, and causing Sashi to fall downwards and hit the table. Luckily, the dragging stopped, and Verge finally stopped moving once they crashed. Unfortunately, it still caused pain.

"Owww…" they said together.

"You OK?" Sashi managed.

"Yeah…man, that hurt."

"Here." Sashi helped Verge stand up, and the two quickly dusted themselves. Verge took a look around the lab and whistled.

"What a mess."

"You're worried about _that? _Verge, look at you! You're green!"

Sashi handed the fairy a mirror, and Verge peered into it. She stared at her hand, and touched her face, a little worried about how sickly it looked. She didn't feel OK either, it was like her stomach was celebrating the Fourth of July the horrible way. When she set the mirror down, she forced a smile. "So it seems that I am..."

"Come on, Divergent. We need to get you rested." Before Verge knew it, Sashi had shrunken down again, and she pulled up a chair. She forced the sick fairy to sit down on it and she then handed over a glass of water quickly after.

"Wow...you're awfully helpful," Verge grinned. "Thanks, Sashi."

"Hey. It's my job." The small Sashi smiled back at her friend. "if you need anything else at all, just tell me."

"You're starting off as a really great fairy guide already~"

When Verge smiled once more, it was quickly replaced with a harsh cough. Sashi frowned at that, now more concerned. It was probably the fairy side of her acting up, or she cared about her friend.

Let's settle for both.

"Verge-"

"You know, I think I could use more water. My throat's drying up..."

"On it!...Hey, what kind of fairy do you think I am?"

Sashi had meant it as a joke, to try and make Verge feel better. She lit up when she laughed. "Well, I dunno. Wanna see for yourself?"

The brunette smiled and took a glass. She flew over to the sink, ready to start basic. Verge turned the faucet on and Sashi cupped her hands under the running water. When she pulled them back, she gasped when she managed to bring out what looked like a large water ball. "Hey! I think I'm-"

Nope. The water collapsed on her palms, landed back into the sink, and splashed on her face. Sashi growled as she wiped the droplets off.

Verge giggled a bit, helping her tiny friend stand. "So I guess you're not a Water Fairy."

"You think?" Sashi scoffed as she filled Verge's glass the normal way.

"Don't worry. We still have like, more talents to try!"

"So specific...well, just so you know, I'm leaving Animal Fairy out of the option. You saw how I am with the squirrels."

"Heh. Sure. I guess we just have to focus on getting me better?"

"No, that's Boone's job now. All I can do is keep you stabilized." Sashi frowned again. "And I'm not all too confident about that. What if I mess up _my _job?"

"That leaves out Healing Talents too then." Sashi had to glare at that. "Come on, Sash! I believe in you. You're already good at being the fairy guide. And you're a sidekick in real life! You can practically do anything. One infected patient isn't going to get in the way of that."

"Heh...thanks, Verge."

"Oh no."

Verge suddenly felt her stomach churn again. She glanced down at her cheek and gasped when she saw a red spot appear on it. She looked around her face and saw more of them, just popping up. Sashi gasped as well as she grew to human size. "What's going on?"

The golden-winged fairy groaned as she sat down on the chair again. Her wings were drooping, and she was having a hard time breathing. "The sickness is getting worse. Whatever Boone's doing in there, it's not making things any better..."

It must've been Sashi or Verge's imagination, but they could've sworn they heard music in there.

"Do you want more water?"

"No, I can't take any more...I probably won't be able to drink it..."

"Oh, no...OK, hold on..." Sashi searched the lab again for something that can help her. "Everything's a mess! I don't think there's anything here that can make you any better..."

"That's OK, Sash, really...I have faith in Boone. But it's getting really cold..." Sashi turned to Verge again and found her shivering this time. Which only made her more scared. Verge was never cold, or at least shivering that much. Her skin was pale, the coolness was natural to her. The only time she was ever sick was with that cold. But now with the sickness...

"Oh, wings," Sashi found herself saying. "Do you need a heater?"

"I know. Why don't you try Light Magic? Maybe that's your talent."

"Oh! Um, right."

Sashi turned smaller again and turned to the window. The sun was still shining, but not enough for Verge to feel heat. Sashi tried directing the rays towards the room with her hands. For a moment, she really thought she had a grasp. But it quickly slipped away from her fingers.

"That's another talent out...How do you even do fairy magic? How do you find out?"

"That's for _you_ to find out, Sash. Besides, I don't tell you everything. _Achoo!"_ Verge sneezed, as she was still shivering, her expression even more sickly now. Sashi bit her lip, and lit up to see a blanket. She quickly grabbed it, and placed it over the girl's shoulders.

"T-Tha- _Achoo!"_

"No talking!" Sashi scolded. "You're not getting any better..."

"W-Well, it can't be your fault, Sash- Wow, it suddenly got really hot in here."

"Oh!" Sashi quickly took the blanket off again, but it only made things worse. Verge started shivering once more. "Oh no..."

"Y-You know what? I-I'll stick to the cold..."

"Oh, Verge..." Sashi paced the room, still flying small-sized, as she tried thinking. She looked at the fairy again, who started scratching her face. "Are you all right?"

"These rashes are getting real itchy..." She yelped slightly as she had to stand up and lift her leg to scratch it.

"Don't do that! What if it makes things worse?!"

"I can't help it!" Verge groaned as she started scratching some more. She even proceeded to drop down onto the ground and scratch her behind against the floor.

"Verge, come on!" Sashi said, trying to pull her off. "Fight it!"

"Easier said than done!"

It took a little while longer until Sashi was able to get Verge to calm down. Like a really long time. By then, she had collapsed on the floor, sitting down with her legs spread out, and small Sashi hovering a few inches before her. The fairy guide of the day was panicking now. Verge really was getting worse. Penn was still unconscious in her body, and Boone was in the lead doing who knows what. And Sashi couldn't find her fairy talent in time that could possibly help her at all.

"Are you still all right?" Stupid question to ask, yes, but what else could she say?

"I guess so..." Verge coughed, not even having the strength to cover her mouth. She picked up the mirror Sashi gave her earlier and forced a smile as she stared into her green, rash-ridden face. "Well...it could be worse."

The moment she said that, Verge felt something behind her. Her golden wings were drooping even more than they were before. And finally they drooped so low that they decided to come off. Sashi's eyes were wide with terror, while all Verge could do was gasp and shriek.

_"MY WINGS!"_

Before Sashi even knew it, Verge had fainted.

"Divergent?!" Sashi gasped and quickly grew bigger this time, frantically checking Verge for a pulse. It was still there, but it was faint. Whatever Boone was doing, he had better do it fast.

"Verge! Come on! Speak to me!" No use. Verge was completely still.

At least she was breathing, but it was a little bit difficult. Sashi stood up, having a hard time herself. "What do I do...?!"

As if on instinct, closed windows had burst right open. Strong winds had entered the room, rapidly swarming around Sashi, as they caused some test tubes and containers to tip and spill over. The sudden gusts caused the brunette to gasp.

"Whoa" was all she could say. Again.

As the winds continued to swarm, Sashi wondered why the sudden storm. They just continued to circle around her, all riled up like literal free spirits. When she tried waving them away, they only seemed to follow the movement of her hand. Which caused Sashi's eyes to widen again. "What the..."

A sudden thought came to her mind and she tapped her chin. "Hey! Winds!"

She didn't think it would work, but the storms suddenly stopped swirling around and stopped at one giant wind cloud. It patiently waited for its next command.

"Awesome," Sashi said in awe. "Well, I don't really have another option. Help me save my friend!"

The winds seemed to obey. They started swirling again in a circular motion, turning into one giant tornado. Sashi turned smaller, and started using her hands to control it this time. Using whatever actions her mind told her to do, she attempted to get some of the air into Verge's mouth. It was just a phase, but with the extra oxygen, Verge was able to breathe a little properly. Which gave Sashi a little hope.

"Yes!" she had to cheer, still controlling the air. She grinned up at the ceiling, the storms still continuing to swirl. She surprisingly found it peaceful. The stormy winds matched her passive-aggressive personality.

"Now I know how Verge feels doing this..."

At the mention of the diseased fairy, there was a gasp coming from the floor and some groans. Sashi almost shrieked when she saw Verge had clasped a hand to her heart and was breathing even more heavily now. "Verge? What's Boone doing in there?" The winds weren't even working anymore. No matter how much Sashi put more oxygen in, nothing happened. The brunette doubted they ever were.

_"Verge?!"_

* * *

Inside the fairy's body, Penn had just woken up and was more than surprised when Boone _didn't _screw up. They were making it to the right location for the medicine. "Turns out I can read," the hero of the day said proudly. "I learned that the heart was the fastest and funnest road to the brain."

"Wow..." the redhead said in awe. "Boone...that's amazing."

But now wasn't the time for compliments. _"Warning. Warning. Patient in dire condition. Have a nice day."_

The heart rate on Verge's monitor went straight.

* * *

"VERGE!"

* * *

_"Verge! Nooooooo!" _

Boone immediately slammed the side of his hand into the red button, releasing the needle. It rocketed towards and pierced the fairy's brain, injecting all the medicine in. All Penn and Boone could do now was watch and wait.

* * *

Sashi held her friend's hand, just staring at her.

And all of a sudden, Verge bolted upright. She took in huge intake of breath, grinning from pointed ear to ear as she held the mirror up in front of her face. The rashes had disappeared and the green had faded away. Behind her back, she felt something pop out and looked behind to see a brand new set of shinier, healthier golden wings. But that was the least of Verge's happiness. _"Ahaha, I'm alive!"_

"Verge!" Before the fairy knew it, Sashi had grown to human size and wrapped her arms around her friend. Verge blinked for a few moments, before grinning widely and hugging her back. It was hard to tell, but she could've sworn Sashi was sniffling. "Don't _ever_ do that again, you idiot!"

"Appreciate the concern, Sash," Verge laughed. From inside her body, she could almost hear Penn and Boone cheering loudly. it made her smile.

But then she noticed something else. "Why is it so...windy?"

That made Sashi smile wider. "Verge! Look! I found my fairy talent!"

The now-healed fairy gasped when she realized something. "That's awesome! You're a fast-flying fairy! Those are one of the most important types of fairies!"

"Huh. Well, I _am_ pretty important."

Verge had to laugh. "So you mean I probably would've died if it wasn't for you?"

"Well, I don't- I mean...I was just doing what a fairy would do, I guess...I'm not exactly that much of an expert as-"

Verge cut her off by giving Sashi her own hug. Sashi smiled at her friend's gesture but almost sputtered when it turned bone-crushing. "Divergent...can't breathe...!"

The fairy pulled away and gave the most heart-warming smile she could muster. "You're an awesome fairy guide, and you did a great job today. Don't let anyone tell you different."

This made Sashi grin even wider.

"Too bad it all has to end."

* * *

Once they were zapped back, the first thing Penn did was grin. "Verge! You're OK!"

He ran across the platform and enveloped his best friend into yet another tight hug. Verge was laughing as he pulled away. "What are you talking about? It was just a mission. I'd still be fine even if we-"

"Yeah, but I was still worried," Penn put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm supposed to look out for you, remember? I don't want you..." He faltered.

"Zero, for the millionth time, I'm fine. And anyway, Sashi was looking out for me! She was the real guide today." The brown-haired girl gestured and grinned to the other brunette, who nodded and smiled right back.

"Whoa. That's awesome, Sash!" Penn smiled as he high-fived Sashi. "Great job."

"Thanks. You too, Penn."

"Uh, guys?" Everyone turned to Boone, who appeared to have a slightly annoyed expression on his face. "Excuse me? Might we remind who was the hero of today?"

"Of course," Verge was grinning as she flew over Boone, her fist held out slightly. "I never doubted you, Boone. You were awesome."

"Thank you, Vergie." Boone tiny fist-bumped it back.

Penn even had to smile. "Hey, Boone. Good work back there. You were a real hero."

"I'm no hero. I'm just a, an average Boone who used his extraordinary intellect and boundless courage to save the day!" With those words, everyone could only stare. "...She loves Teddy."

And at that, Sashi was ready to kill someone.

* * *

**Hope you liked this chapter guys! I admit I wasn't exactly working that hard on it. Keep yourself updated for the next episode! Hopefully it'll be up soon once I'm done with all my homework uwu**

**One more thing! I know some of you are sort of wondering if Penn and Verge will ever get together? The answer to that is: maybe. This fic may already be close to having 30+ chapters, but it's only just the beginning! I want to take my time with the story, wait until this relationship will continue to be something more or not (yes they had six years in the story but you guys only had two months ;) ) If they ever got together, I'll be sure to inform everyone through chapters~ But for now, I'm going to respect some people's opinions on how they think about Penn x OC. I know (through certain sources) that not many people like that. Pennashi for the win, am I right? Haha. Idrk. I'll just see where everything goes and if I get more favorites or something. **

**Stay updated, everyone~**


	30. Fish and Chips

**Episode 25: Fish and Chips**

* * *

**Yaaay new episode! Whew, I had to hurry up with this one. Sorry if it may seem rushed. Again. I always think the episodes I write are rushed. Anyways, you know the drill! Hope you like it, hope you favorite, hope you review, hope hope hope. Also, congratulations to America for legalizing same-sex marriage! Woooooo! As a fujoshi, I so support xD**

**Enjoy~**

* * *

"Hmm…hmm…there. That's the perfect place to put it." Verge nodded as Phyllis was fixing some picture frames.

Penn frowned, as he looked up at the mechanic, who was dangling from a belt. "You know, me scrubbing fungus from the Troll King's jowls, or sorting socks in the Laundromat of doom, and wrestling a man-eating burrito in a cage match just doesn't seem worthy of the Wall of Favor at moment."

As he held the door, Verge flew in before him. "Aw, come on Zero! Does it really matter? I mean, just as long as every mission is fun and exciting."

The redhead deadpanned at him. "All those things I mentioned were _not_ fun at _all."_

"Yeah, but watching you do them was!"

He sighed. "Is the fate of the Multiverse _really_ at stake on at _every_ assignment?"

"Fate of Multiverse is _always_ at stake!" Phyllis promised. "You must trust the plaster man."

The quartet exchanged a look at they took their positions. "You mean, trust the master plan?" Sashi questioned.

"No. Trust plaster man." Phyllis gestured to a statue of an open-mouthed person, holding up a sign that said "fate of Multiverse is always at stake!" It looked weird, since it didn't look very appealing. "I'm taking sculpture class at Wednesday nights!"

This caused the team to giggle.

And that caused Phyllis to get annoyed. "What, I can't have life? You're not boss of Phyllis!"

She zapped them in.

* * *

"Oh yeah!" Penn laughed as he shook his tail and had his trident held up. "Butt finnage in the house! Woo! I love me some Oceanashooshoopoosh!"

"It's Oceanaquariopolis," Sashi corrected. Obviously annoyed.

"Ah, I missed this tail," Verge grinned, swimming in circles. "It complements my wings, don't you think?"

"I think that's one less thing to worry about."

Boone was also grinning, raising his crab claws. "Guess who's not afraid of water any- _AH! _Oh, some got in my nose, some got in my nose!"

Verge had to roll her eyes and magically fix that problem.

"Last time, we battled the kingdom's bitter enemies, the evil Octopus people!" Penn continued. "What great quest awaits us this time in Oceanapoopaloo?"

Verge deadpanned. "...Really, Zero?"

"What?"

"Oceanaquariopolis," Sashi said again.

"Uh, Sash?" Boone spoke up. "He's the prince? I'm pretty sure he knows how to pronounce his own kingdom."

"Apparently he can't," Verge murmured.

"Thank you, Boone," Penn said, not hearing her. "Sash, check the Specs."

"Our mission is to find Rufus."

It took a while to realize that was it.

"Seriously?" Verge exclaimed, dumbfounded. "That's...all?"

"I'm surprised you don't care it's an animal."

"Psh. Everyone's an animal here."

"All right!" Penn cheered, not caring. "Let's do this!...What's a Rufus?"

"Rufus is your pet fish, your Majesty." The four turned and saw two merpeople, who appeared to be royal guards. They looked just like the merpeople they met last time.

"Of course!" Penn said, playing along. "Rufus, a real cherished member of this court-"

"Everyone hates Rufus." The merpeople gestured to a picture frame, where a picture of Rufus was. Some had had doodled all over it, changed the R to D, and threw a tomato at it. "He's always saying crazy things that don't make any sense."

The second merperson nodded. "And the way he says them is _so annoying. _'They're watching! Run for the east! Push the island!'" The four exchanged looks.

"I hate the way he makes that fish face all the time..."

"OK, this isn't a popularity contest!" Penn said. "One of our own is missing, and it's up to us to find him! Am I right, my man?" He punched the merperson's shoulder playfully.

But apparently, that was offensive. "I beg your pardon! I am a woman."

This caused everyone to exchange looks again.

"...Really? 'Cause, last time, I think you said you were a-" The mermaid grunted. "It's just 'cause the lips, and the-" He cleared his throat. "We're just gonna go find Rufus!"

He quickly pushed his friends away from them, the four swimming off.

"Smooth move, Zero," Verge smirked at her friend.

"It's very confusing! You guys were just as surprised!"

"Yeah, sure. I totally had no idea."

"Wait, was that sarcasm? It's severely hard to tell when you're sarcastic."

"What do you think?"

"Can you just get Rufus' scent."

"Already on it. Come on."

The four started following Verge through the ocean. She appeared to have her track on Rufus for a few moment, and still held on. But it seemed that swimming around for even just a few minutes was getting a little too tiring.

"His scent is fading a bit," Verge said. "But I think I have a clear path on where he'd gone."

"I don't know about you," Boone sighed after a while. "But this rock's got my name written all over it." He hopped on and laid himself out on it, looking pretty relaxed.

"Yeah, but every rock's gonna have your name on it," Penn said. "Especially if you keep writing your name on them." He gestured to the closer rocks behind, which had Boone's work all over. The sight made Verge stare.

"How did you...find the time?"

"I don't tell you everything."

"That's my line!"

"Chillax, amigos! If they didn't want us taking breaks, they wouldn't have left a trail of super reflective snack chips!" The Wiseman happily took a full gulp as he crunched into what looked like a blue chip.

"Boone! Five-second rule."

"What? You don't actually believe in that stuff, do you?"

"Well, I don't really know how it goes. Why five seconds? And five seconds for what? Summer? I dunno."

Penn seemed to be examining the blue food. "Super reflective sna- What? Wait, those aren't chips. Those are fish scales. Royal fish scales!"

Boone made a face. "Ewww, gross." He took a chip and ate it.

"They could only belong to one fish," Verge nodded, examining a scale and smiling.

Sashi nodded as well. "If we followed their trail-"

"They'll lead us straight to Rufus!" Penn confirmed. "OK, team, let's move!"

"All right!" Verge cheered. "Road trip! Or water trip? Wings, this is all confusing."

With that, they swam off.

They followed the trail of scales for a little while. Verge was in the lead, knowing exactly where to go as she was able to continue tracking. The four were swimming through the waters, various seaweeds and passing by rocks. The more they moved, the closer they felt they were getting. But as they moved, Verge was realizing how odd things were getting. She saw a small tower, which she assumed didn't just sink to the ocean. She almost sworn she saw a scuba diver about their size, but that couldn't be possible... And at some point, she thought she saw a filter. It didn't make any sense. But she didn't mention it ot her friends either way.

She did know they all noticed the same thing after a while.

"Trail ends here," Sashi said. "But no Rufus!"

"The scent's off too," Verge murmured. "It's slightly strong, as if this was the place he were last."

"You know, " Penn said, setting his trident down. "This is a lot of effort for one little fish. What's so important about this Rufus an-" He cut himself off when Penn suddenly hit something. "Wait, what the..."

"Zero?" Verge questioned, swimming up.

"Glass?" He placed a hand in front of it, touching the surface. "Hold on, this...this isn't an ocean!" He suddenly got a look on his face when a sudden thought came to his mind. "Verge...you understand, don't you?"

The merfairy raised her eyebrows, actually surprised he knew. But it was starting to make sense. The tower...the small scuba diver...the thing that looked like a filter...

"This is a fish tank! In a restaurant! _And we're on the menu!"_

Boone and Sashi's eyes widened at that. Verge just had to scoff at what she saw outside.

"Fourteen dollars? Sixteen? Five? Is that really how much we're worth?"

Something interrupted her, when they then heard a splashing noise. "Whoa," Sashi said. "What's that sound?"

Her response was answered when they saw a giant fish net coming into the water, ready to scoop something up. "Boone, watch out!" Penn shouted.

But the crab was grunting as he pulled at what looked like a fake treasure chest. "The treasure is _really_ stuck in there. It's like someone glued it to the botto_ooooom!" _

The net reached over and scooped Boone up. It started to rise up in the air and out of the tank, causing everyone to gasp.

"Boone!" Verge shouted.

Luckily, Penn had got a hold of the net, and was being lifted in with Boone. It was only worse that Penn was now about to be part of the meal.

"Penn?!" Boone called.

"Boone!"

"If I don't make it, promise me, you'll memorialize me with a life-sized solid gold statue! Make sure they give me abs!"

"Boone!" Sashi shouted.

"Also, make it so when you push my nose, gumballs pop out of my mouth! Don't forget the gumballs! Or the abs!" With that, they were taken away.

"No! Penn! Boone!" The two looked out the tank to see the boys being thrown into a giant pot. The girls' eyes widened.

"Don't worry, Sash!" Verge said, swimming upwards and determined. "I'll save them!"

"Verge, don't!" She reached up and grabbed the merfairy by the arm, quickly stopping her. "You might end up..." Her voice faltered.

"Who are you, Penn? Come on, Sashi, are you really pulling that on me?"

"Well..."

"Ooh, tough break," The two turned to see Rippen and Larry behind them. The evil octopus was laid out, lying against a rock, looking all smug. Verge frowned at that.

"Were you following us? Wait, you probably did, don't answer that."

Rippen ignored her. "Now, there's nothing stopping me from finding that fish!" He started laughing evilly.

"Hey, that's the marble counter top I want for my kitchen!" Larry noticed, his tentacles against the glass.

"You're crazy, those will stain so easily!"

"Rippen, are you seriously not thinking right now?" Verge questioned, rubbing her forehead. "Rufus' trail ended here. He's obviously in the restaurant already being cooked by their chefs or something!"

"Doesn't matter. I'm winning!"

"Technically, _no one_ is-"

"Were you always this much of a killjoy? Let's go get that fish."

"Not if we get it first!" Sashi proclaimed. "I trust in the plaster man. Right, Verge?"

"Mm-hmm..."

Rippen stared. "You mean, the master plan?" They shook their heads. "...Fine, don't explain it."

He and Larry swam off.

"OK, I'm flying up there," Verge said. "You try and go to the other merpeople. Convince them, or something. We'll figure out what's going on later and I'll make sure Penn gives you a call."

"All right. Be careful, Vergie."

"You know I can't promise that!"

Before Sashi could protest, Verge swam up.

The merfairy peeked out of the tank, making sure there was no one around to see her. She flew out of the tank, her wings flapping the water droplets off. She looked around before she found the pot Penn and Boone were thrown into. Lighting up, she flew over to it, and suddenly heard Penn speaking.

"Why does Phyllis have us searching for some stupid fish no one seems to like when everyone in Oceoploplop is in danger?! I need to know that we're risking our lives for the greater good! Phyllis! I need a sign! Please!"

Verge had to roll her eyes. Stupid Zero. Did he really think that would work?

"Oh, forget it! OK, we're gettin' out of this pot, forgettin' about Rufus and the mission, and finding a way to rescue all the fish people instead!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Zero?"

Penn and Boone gasped when they saw Verge above them, her arms dangled inside the pot as she grinned down at them. "Verge!" Penn cried out. "OK, good, we can save the fish people now!"

"What about Rufus?"

"Come on, Verge, Rufus doesn't seem like he could be of any use. No one likes him!"

Verge frowned. "Just because someone's disliked doesn't mean he's not important."

"Are you listening to yourself right now?"

"Nah, not really. Boone, didn't you talk some sense into him?"

"Nope. Too busy drinking me."

"Ugh, whatever, come on."

After conjuring some fairy dust, she sprinkled it over the duo. They might've been covered in soup broth, but they were able to fly out of the pot and back onto the ground. Boone had landed on a spoon, which was set over a tipped over salt shaker.

"Hey, that looks like fun," Verge noticed his position.

Then Penn got an idea. "Boone, get back in the tank," he said, taking a strawberry. "We'll be right behind you."

He threw the fruit at the end of the spoon, causing Boone to fly off the catapult and scream out. _"Save me some Boone soup!"  
_

"He could've just flew inside," Verge said.

"Nah, like you said. This is more fun."

He proceeded preparing his own catapult ride, when Verge suddenly heard murmuring. It wasn't a voice she'd heard before, and it sounded pretty weird. "Zero, do you..."

"Yeah," Penn nodded, looking up. The voice was speaking.

_"Why try? Such a useless endeavor!"_

"What the dust?"

Penn sighed, having a pretty good idea on who it could be. "Come on."

They hopped over to a giant bowl and threw themselves inside. There, they saw one green, heterochromatic-eyed, four-legged angler fish. It looked up at them, not exactly looking surprised they were there. "Fate will have her day eventually. _Why not today?!"_

Penn and Verge exchanged a look.

"I'm gonna go with my fish guts here and assume that _you're_ Rufus."

The merfairy sniffed the air. "You're right. He's got the same scent. With a hint of chocolate."

Suddenly, they heard stomping sounds and saw a shadow pass over them. "Whoa...come on you two."

Verge flew out of the bowl while Penn and Rufus had to peek out. She saw the shadow belonged to a giant alien cat chef, which sort of seemed more understandable than weird at the moment. She gulped slightly before gesturing to the others to hurry up. The Cat took a knife and started chopping up some tomatoes, letting the three continue to hide behind some of the other ingredients.

At least the heroes were determined. Rufus was talking again. "I've seen them watching with their cold eyes! Their pickeles gaze could cut your very soul in half! Or quarters!" When he laughed maniacally, Penn and Verge looked at each other worriedly. _"If they looked at you twice!"_

The part-time hero grabbed Rufus' fin and yanked him into the hiding spot. Penn was getting annoyed. This fish was _really_ uncooperative.

"We must push the island to the east!"

Penn groaned. "Shush! Shush! Shush it up! We get it, they're watching, we must push the island to the east, and-"

"Zero, I think he has some sort of point," Verge spoke up as she thought. "I feel like there's more to his words than we think..."

"Yeah? Like what?"

The next thing he saw before him answered his question. There was a large compass on the wall, and the east label seemed to be in the same direction as where the fish tank was. And with this very information, Penn thought again. "Wait a minute..."

"Zero!"

He looked up, confused at what Verge was gazing at, and started climbing a wine bottle to see. He gasped when he saw the real ocean outside the window. One thing they noticed was that the fish tank was just by the windowsill. Which meant if it could fall out...it could.

"Of course!"

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Verge asked, grinning.

Penn smirked back. "You bet." The two did a fist-bump.

As he slid back down, he grinned up at the skies. "Phyllis, you old bean, you were right! Always trust the plaster man!"

It was Rufus' turn to raise an eyebrow.

Penn whipped his shellphone out to call Sashi, and the sidekick quickly picked up. "Sashi! We found Rufus! Turns out, he's not crazy, just annoying. Really, really annoying. I mean, they are right to hate him. But that's not important right now."

Just then, Verge saw that the cat chef had finally noticed his ingredients were missing. It let out a loud, angry meow and prepared to throw a fork. Verge yelped. "Zero, watch out!"

The fish's eyes widened as he quickly ducked when the fork hit just above his head. "Rufus was trying to _save_ Oceanabanananananoo by having everyone push the island to the east!" Knife. "That'll cause the fish tank to fall off the windowsill into the ocean."

_"I'm on it!"_

"I'm sending Verge to help you."

"What?" The merfairy frowned as she flew over. "But I can help here! The cat is on our tails!"

"Verge!"

The next knife that was thrown had missed barely and ended up sticking to the wall again. Verge gasped slightly, before Penn took her arm and they started hopping around the countertop. The cat chef was attempting to mash them down, but they quickly hid behind some potatoes. Once they were mashed, the cat chef was confused when he saw nothing there. It decided to shrug it off and continue its cooking.

Penn got off the canned prince fish can that he had camouflaged in and Verge came out from behind it. He took her hand again as they quickly reunited with Rufus again. "You have to get to the tank and help push."

"What about you and Rufus?"

"We'll stall things over here just enough for you guys to get to the ocean. We'll be fine...barely."

"Don't say barely! You could die, Zero!"

"The merfairy that doesn't swim could get her wings chopped off."

The two turned to Rufus and raised an eyebrow, who just decided to randomly butt into their conversation. He blinked at them innocently. "Come on, Verge," Penn continued. "The fate of the Multiverse is at stake."

Now, she just sighed. "I know, I know. Trust the plaster man. OK, fine. I'll trust him. I just don't like how he looks." She started flying off again, quickly heading inside the tank. She didn't bother looking back.

Penn grinned widely. "That's my Verge!"

Once she was back in the water, Sashi was there, holding the trident, grinning when her friend had returned. "Verge, you're back!"

The merfairy laughed lightly. "Yep...Penn and Rufus claimed they can handle things back there."

"OK, good. Boone already gathered everyone else. We just have to talk everyone into cooperating with pushing the island."

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go inspire some fish people!"

With smiles on their faces, they swam off.

Once they'd arrived, everyone seemed to be talking about the whole island-pushing idea. There were murmurs of worry, terror, and confusion, but that didn't stop Verge and Sashi. They swam up before all the fish people, who seemed to be with the octopus people as well, ready to say their speech. Everyone looked up and slowly quieted down once they saw them.

"Citizens of Oceanaquariopolis!" Sashi spoke up. "Unless we set aside our differences and work together, we shall all become tomorrow's lunch special!"

"We must push the island to the east!" Verge added. "We must save this island! We must save our home!"

"No, don't listen to them!" The girls turned to find Rippen swimming over, looking angry. "Arguing over our differences is what makes us special!"

"That's not true!" Verge insisted. "We may be different, but inside, we are equal! Why don't we fight _together_? With everyone working as one, we can all save our fins and tails!" This got everyone to nod to reason. Some of the fish and octopi even smiled at each other.

Sashi grinned, holding the trident up. "We must fight for Oceanaquariopolis!"

Everyone started cheering out loud, waving their hands in the air. "(insert mispronounced names for Oceanaquariopolis)!"

Verge and Sashi exchanged a look. "Really? Even you guys?"

"Let's get moving!"

From then on, everyone swam off to the island. It seemed safe and sound then, but they shouldn't be falling for the peace. Everyone swam up to the bottom of the island, looking determined. "All right, fish people!" Verge shouted. "Ready!"

They were all putting force in as they pushed. Nothing seemed to happen for a little while. But then they all felt something shake. Pretty soon, the island started to move towards the east, which gave the heroes a little bit of hope. "Keep pushing!" Verge encouraged. "We're so close!"

"Larry!" she heard Rippen yell. "Stop helping them, it's you and me, kid!"

"Thanks, but it's good exercise!"

The tank was shaking now, and everyone continued as they grunted and pushed. "It's working!" Sashi called out. "We're moving!"

"Not quite yet!" the merfairy called back. "We need more force!"

Just then, she heard something from the outside. Her fairy senses tingled and she whirled around to hear the cat was trying to keep the tank steady. Her mind instantly worried. What was happening out there?

Suddenly, there was another sound. The sound of what turned out to be something knocking into the glass. It was the very thing she was looking for. With the extra force, everyone felt the island tipping over. They instantly let go and started to scream once they felt the entire tank being dumped into the ocean. Once they hit the clear ocean water, the island was tipping again. It took a while, but once everyone had scattered out, everything finally returned to its normal state. And then, they knew peace was restored.

Everyone was cheering for their newfound freedom. From a distance, Rippen's cries of help as he got trapped in the tank were heard. The heroes cheered and high-fived each other. Verge was grinning, but she was especially happy when she saw Penn swimming up to them.

"Zero!" She swam right over and gave her friend a big fairy hug. Penn grinned and accepted it. When she pulled away, Verge smiled proudly at him. "You did it! We saved everyone!"

"Heh, no. We all did."

"That's what I said."

"Oh, really? 'Cause I thought...we're not doing that cliche thing when-"

"No."

"OK."

Sashi turned to the two merpeople from earlier. "Good job, gentlemen!"

The two only turned to her with deadpan looks. "Sash, those are women," Penn corrected.

The second huffed. "One of us is a woman, the other is a man."

The heroes exchanged looks. "Riiight...and, we all know...especially me...exactly which...one of you...is a man..." With that, the two fish people swam off. Verge, Boone, and Sashi looked at Penn.

"...To be fair, I don't know if I'm a girl fish or a boy fish either."

* * *

**Aaaaaaand so the twenty-fifth episode! Gonna be a little while 'til I post the next, 'kay guys?**

**Also, I just want to make shout-out to a certain person named MusicMeisterLover! She commented on one of my PZ + Verge artwork and she said she likes this story! She even said she was gonna draw them! Check her out on deviantart, search her name! I already said thank you, but no words can express my gratitude. Thanks so much again! **

**I'll see everyone in about a week or so! Keep yourself updated! Read on, everyone~**


	31. I Can See The Light

**Special Episode: I Can See The Light**

* * *

**Heeeey guys!  
**

**Check it out! I was able to accomplish another special episode in a day! I want to thank MusicMeisterLover for giving me this idea, because once again, I never would have thought of it! Hope you liked it, btw~ To be honest, I wasn't going to publish a special episode, even after the 25****th**** episode. I didn't have any ideas! Let's all thank MML for this one chapter, shall we? :) I'll be sure to try and do some of you other readers' requests in the next story though! I promise.**

**Today, I'm gonna focus some part of the story on Rippen. Which I suppose is new, considering I don't write about Rippen unless Verge or Penn is there! But MML gave me the idea for it too and now it was just necessary to write in his POV, for even just a little while :3 I must also warn that the chapter could be a little short for my standards, so hope you guys aren't too disappointed! Read this chapter, and tell me what you think. :)**

* * *

"Verge?" Penn called out, walking through his house. He was searching for the fairy again, getting more annoyed the more he couldn't find her. That girl was so small, the redhead could barely see her around anymore these days. He finally stopped when he saw her on his bed in their room.

"Verge! There you are. What are you doing?"

The fairy looked up and grinned widely when she saw her friend. "Zero!" She flew off what looked like a large book and pointed to it. "Check it out! I found one of the books your parents used to read to us back when we were younger!"

"Oh, did you?" Penn smiled and picked the book up to read the cover. "'Peter Pan'. Oh hey! You loved this story! I remember you always asked for it." He chuckled. "Good times, good times."

Verge nodded. "Of course I loved the story! It had a fairy in it~ Tinker Bell is my absolute favorite."

"Obviously. I, on the other hand, like everything about Peter Pan myself."

"Of _course _you did. He was the hero."

"Hey, the girl liked him."

"So did the fairy, but that's never gonna happen."

Penn poked her shoulder playfully. "Very funny. Speaking of which, do you fairies live forever, or die of old age, or what? 'Cuz I'm not spending my lifetime with a fairy that's never even going to change the way she looks!"

Verge rolled her eyes at that. "Come on, Zero. I'm pretty sure I can grow old. That's a sentence I never thought I'd say…"

"Yeah, but we're just like Peter Pan and Tink, am I right?"

The fairy laughed when Penn looked at her knowingly. "Yeah, sure, Zero."

Penn didn't know everything though. There was one thing in the story was actual true in real life. But he wasn't aware about that. Verge, however, knew it very well and she didn't bother telling him about it, even after all these years.

"All right, come on," Penn said, nudging the fairy. "We're gonna be late for work, Boone and Sashi are waiting outside."

Verge smiled and flew to hide in his hair. "Aye aye captain. Set sail to the Odyssey!"

Penn smirked and they left the room. They met with their two friends outside the house as the quartet peacefully made their way to their part-time jobs. But, before they entered the abandoned cinema house, the part-time heroes found the part-time villains also entering their own area. Rippen saw them as well, squinting his eyes as if wondering if he should shout an insult right now before going to their missions. He apparently rejected the idea as he went to follow Larry inside.

A certain fairy, however, was not satisfied. "Hey, guys. Watch this."

She flew off Penn's hair and dashed for Rippen. The man barely had time to notice her and scrunched his nose when he felt something tickle it. He waved a hand, but didn't seem to catch anything. He just kept waving his hands, getting more annoyed the more he felt tickling. He let out a loud grunt and was backing away, until he tripped over the open door and yelped as he fell to the floor inside. Verge quickly flew back to her friends before he could get up.

Penn, Boone, and Sashi were snickering quietly to themselves. "Get in, get in!" Penn giggled, opening the door and gesturing everyone to hurry inside. He quickly tiny fist-bumped Verge in pride. Once they were out of sight, Rippen finally realized what just happened and let out another grunt of rage.

"Blasted little pest!"

"Hey, Rippen!" Larry's voice called. "Let's get going!"

The villain grumbled some more and entered the abandoned shop.

There were zaps, and both sides went to their new missions.

* * *

When Rippen looked around, he seemed to be in a lonely campsite for two. He and Larry were dressed up in mountaineers' clothing, and they were sitting on separate logs around a campfire. He quickly stood up, wondering what the mission for today could be.

Larry grinned as he checked his Specs, feeling pretty confident as usual. "All right! Today we have to get the special light force of the Lighters, which is on top of Daylight Mountain before Penn and his friends do. This sounds like an easy mission!"

Rippen, however, wasn't paying attention. He still seemed pretty annoyed by one little fact. "That fairy of theirs is probably going to fly them up to the mountain for that… She's _always _in the way of _everything! _She's why Penn always wins!"

"You all right buddy?"

"Argh!" Rippen kicked a rock in frustration, which only resulted to him recoiling back and holding his toe in pain. "If only there was a way to get rid of that size-changing human insect…"

"Hey! You know what! I remember this story I once read before!"

"Larry, please—"

"Man, was I obsessed with it! It had a fairy in it too! Oh, you probably know it, it's pretty popular! Anyway it was all about a boy who never wanted to grow up, I mean come on! Who wouldn't want to grow up? And he had this fairy friend that followed him like _everywhere_ I'm pretty sure they were best friends! But then the evil pirate with a hook for a hand – funny, I think that's his name! – found out that to get the boy sad he had to kill the fairy, and he managed to find that out by saying something like 'Oh, I don't believe in you!' and I cried every time I read that part—"

"Hold on, hold on," Rippen said quickly. You'd be surprised he got the gist of all that, spending too much time with the minion did it to him. "Go back to the fairy part!"

"Yeah, the fairy's name was Tinker Bell! She was so cute and feisty! Hey, just like Verge! And she had these cute little puff balls at the end of her—"

"No! The part about _killing_ the fairy?!"

"Well, all you gotta do is say that there's no such thing as them and that's it! The nearest fairy dies."

"Is this a joke, Larry? Because if it's just another one of your foolish stories—"

"But it _is_ a story! From a book! I'm just saying, it could happen~"

Rippen hesitated, thinking about Larry's words. What he said was a little farfetched, but it was possible… To have Penn Zero, his all-time enemy, just broken-hearted from having his best fairy guide passed away? Pure exhilaration. And after all…words were more powerful than the sword.

"This just might work."

"What you planning?" Larry asked, grinning again.

The villain didn't reply. He stood firmly, with his feet planted to the ground. He had his head high and his chest out, feeling even more complacency than usual. With a little sigh, he looked up at the mountains and said with full confidence.

"There's no such thing as fairies."

* * *

When the part-time heroes were zapped, just a few moments before Rippen was, Verge noticed they were around a campsite, just as well. Everyone was dressed in mountaineer clothing too, and that they were all surrounded in darkness. The only source of light was the fire set up in between the four of them and the light from Verge's wings. The moment they arrived, Sashi checked the Specs.

"OK. We're Lighters. Our mission is to make it to the top of Daylight Mountain, and take the source of our light. Without the source, the Days will never come to pass."

"All right!" Penn said, rather cheerfully. "This should be pretty simple. Verge, you can just fly us all the way up to the mountain, right?"

"Aww, but where would all the fun in that be?" the fairy whined, crossing her arms and pouting.

"Hey, if it means not having to move my legs, I'll take it!" Boone said jokingly.

"Well, scaling a mountain should be easy," Penn said calmly. "I mean, we've done it before."

"This will be different, Penn," Sashi warned. "This mountain's really high. It could be a bit dangerous getting up. We have to be very careful, especially when it's dark."

"Why would they call it Daylight Mountain if there is no light?" Verge questioned.

"That's why the mission is to _get_ the light on _top._ We have to do it before the evil Lighters steal it first."

"Let's do this!" Penn cheered, pumping his fist. "And the first order of business! Verge, think you can fly us up to the first edge?"

"Right on it!" Verge chirped, ready to summon some fairy dust.

But something interrupted her. A few certain words she never thought she would hear in her whole life rang through her eardrums and into her brain: _"There's no such things as fairies."_

Instantly, Verge felt drowsy. The fairy dust slipped from her fingers and she felt her body dragging her down. When she tried flying, she couldn't. Her wings felt weak, and she could barely jump off the ground. When she started to pant, her friends noticed.

"Verge, are you all right?" Penn asked, a little concerned.

The fairy instantly panicked. She knew what was happening, but she couldn't bring herself to tell Penn about it. She couldn't have him worrying during their mission… "Y-Yeah! I'm fine. Uh, hey! I don't really feel like dusting you guys today."

"What? Why?"

"Uhh well…like I said! Where's the fun if we don't do it properly?" She mustered a smile, hoping they'd believe it.

The three exchanged worried looks, with Boone and Sashi not seeming to buy it. Penn bit his lip, not knowing what to believe. "Well, OK. Let's climb the mountain then."

"A-Also…I don't feel like moving either, can I sleep in your bag for a while?"

Now Penn was confused. Verge loved to move about. Especially when it came to flying. But the look on her face seemed desperate. He bent down and let the fairy climb onto his palm as he gently placed her in the pocket of his knapsack. She instantly let out a puff of air and relaxed.

"…Come on, guys."

They began to climb the mountain for a while. It was very rocky, and very steep, so the three had a rather hard time, even with the proper mountain gear. Boone kept panting and practically had no strength to move on. Both Penn and Sashi took turns dragging him whenever he felt like losing it. But even so, they continued. Verge was lucky they only had one direction to go to, so they didn't exactly check on her from time to time. But the more they scaled, the weaker Verge got. She felt that golden glow surrounding her flicker every now and then, and she had now lost the ability to summon fairy dust. She tried at least making some items in Penn's bag float. But it was no use.

What's worse was how Verge started to look now. If she was pale now, it must've been possible for her to get even paler. Her wings started to droop, as if she felt like they would fall off again any moment. It wasn't noticeable now, but her hands started to shake, and she was thinning. She felt weaker, and more useless every minute. But she didn't feel like pitying herself. After all, there was only going to be one result after all this…

Later, once they were halfway through the mountain, they decided to rest and have a water break. After a while when Penn brought Verge out, the very first thing she did was take an entire jug of water and dump the rest of its contents over her head.

This caused everyone to worry. "Verge?" Boone asked. "You feeling OK? You do realize you just wet your wings?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! It was getting hot in that bag anyway, haha…"

Penn raised an eyebrow. "Then why didn't you fly out?"

"…Oh, because…um….fire!"

"Nice try, but there's no fire in my bag—"

"No, look! _Fire!"_

Everyone quickly turned around and gasped at what they saw. What looked like a fury of flames with feet was cackling, as they appeared to be running up to the quartet. They spread their fire around, causing mischief and even setting some rocks on fire. When a flame caught on Boone's hand, he yelped immediately and recoiled his hand back. It must've been burning hot. The team gasped and instantly sprang to their feet.

"Go, go, go!" Penn commanded, as they all began to run away. Verge tried going human size, but even the ability to do that was gone. Penn instinctively picked her up and carried her in his hands.

Verge watched as the legged-flames were chasing them. Her friends were panicking, with no idea on how to lead them off. The fairy was trying her best to summon water powers, but they weren't budging. And Penn noticed. He knew Verge would've tried to do something by now…

"If anyone has an idea on how to get rid of them, now would be a good time for sharing!" Boone yelled, dodging a flame.

Sashi reacted instantly and took her water jug. She uncapped it quickly and threw its contents. "Hyah!" It wasn't much, but it seemed to be enough to die the flames down. Verge could practically hear their tiny screaming.

Everyone paused for a breath. Verge crawled out of Penn's hand,, as if attempting to fly again. But her wings wouldn't work, and she started to fall. The fairy yelped, as she began to fall, but Penn noticed quickly and caught her again.

"Whoa! Verge, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," the fairy muttered stubbornly, sitting on his palm as she hugged her knees. "I'm fine."

Penn squinted his eyes. "Don't give me that. Don't you _dare_ give me that. You should know by now I _know_ whenever something's wrong, so you might as well tell me now!"

Verge could only stare at her feet.

"Verge!" Sashi gasped, suddenly realizing something. "Your glow! It's…it's fading!"

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, hey!" Boone piped up. "It's just like from that story! Verge, why didn't you tell us?"

"Tell us what?"

Suddenly, they heard a boom and a crackle in the sky. There was no lightning, but that could probably be because the Light source wasn't with them yet. "We have to hurry," Sashi said gravely, as she pointed downwards. More legged-fires were coming after them. Which means they had to keep going upward.

"Let's go!" Penn commanded, bringing Verge to set her down in his jacket pocket. The three continued to climb the mountain, with the small fairy's light going dimmer and her growing even weaker.

They were getting closer and closer to the summit, but the will to move seemed being drained as well. Boone was panting all over again, and felt like giving up once more. "You know, you can probably just leave me now…let the fire get me…continue the mission without me!"

"Don't talk like that now, Boone," Sashi warned, taking him by the leg and grunted as she dragged him. "We're so close now…"

They reached the last edge, which lead to the top. The flames probably couldn't reach that edge, because they stopped chasing and just stayed under, as if the only thing it could do now was sit and wait for someone to fall in. But the light from the top was even brighter now. Everyone could see it up close. Penn's hopes rose again as he trudged forward.

"We're almost there!"

"Not so fast!"

The team stopped when standing before them was Rippen and Larry. They seemed to have burnt marks on their clothes, like they were victims of the fire as well. "Man, that was hot!" Larry commented, waving a flame off his shoulder. "Things were _really_ heating up in there, I mean you have no idea what we were doing to—"

"Larry, everything you're saying is wrong."

"Step aside, Rippen!" Penn said confidently. "We were just about to win again!"

"Ha! I doubt that. Especially in the condition of your little fairy guide now."

"What?"

Rippen smirked, as if pleased he knew something Penn didn't. "Why, didn't she tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Don't listen to him, Zero!" Verge shouted out from his pocket and attempted to fly off. But she only ended up falling to the ground. The team gasped and Penn threw himself to the floor.

"Verge?!"

"So it's true then! All you have to do is say that I don't believe in fairies! I could've won before in the past if I'd known this!"

"What?!" Penn looked at Verge with a worried look on his face. "Verge, is this true?"

The fairy didn't respond. She just glared at Rippen. "You're still not winning this time!"

"Oh? And what makes you think so?"

Just then, Verge mustered all the strength she had left. She tried concentrating, and gave a little flutter of her wings. It was slow, and she wasn't as fast as she used to be, but she managed to lift her full body off the ground. With the last bit of force she had, she channeled it all into her one fist and just punched Rippen in the face.

The part-time villain barely saw it coming. _"Argh!" _he yelled, holding his cheek while glaring at the fairy. "Blasted little pest!"

Verge didn't expect the next thing coming either. Her eyes widened when Rippen brought his hand up, and waved it for a powerful slap. And this time, he didn't miss. Verge felt her body burning with pain as she came in contact with his hand, which soon turned into the contact of the ground. She tried standing up, but Rippen's words from earlier just weighed her down. She lay motionless on the dirt, unable to move, as the glow started fading again.

"_Verge!" _Penn shouted again. He turned to Rippen and glared, small tears forming in his eyes. "How dare you!"

He did the next thing he could think of. He charged forward and tackled Rippen to the ground. The man didn't see that coming either. "What are you doing?! Get off!"

"Boone! Get Verge! Sashi, get Larry!"

She was already on it. When Larry tried pulling Penn off, Sashi sprang to action and knocked him down. _"H-yah!" _

Meanwhile, Penn and Rippen were struggling on the ground. "Get off!"

"No, you get off!"

They were nearing the edge now. Penn held in a gasp as he heard the fires beneath him. It was almost as if they were beckoning him to fall. He looked up at Rippen, who had a sinister smile as he attempted to push the boy in.

"Time to meet your doom, Penn Zero!"

Nope. Penn took a hold of Rippen and used all his power to kick him backwards. Rippen's eyes widened when he managed to flip him into the flames, and the man was screaming as he started to fall. Penn panted as he watched Rippen try to escape. **(A/N: Ey guys does this scene seem familiar to you xDD) **

But then he immediately remembered. "Verge!" Penn stood up and ran to the fairy. Sashi finished tying Larry up and went to join him.

The light was dimming even faster than before now. Verge's eyes were closed, and her body lay motionless. Her wings weren't golden anymore. They grew a dull, pale bronze, and looked so shriveled up. Even her clothes had their color drained. Boone couldn't pick her up. She was so cold, that she could barely be held. When they gathered around her, all they could do was watch as her light faded away.

"No…no! Verge, please! Don't leave!"

Penn was panicking now. The small fairy heard his voice and managed to peek one eye open. She turned her head to him and looked surprised to see him there. When she saw his face, she could only muster one word.

"Ze…ro…"

Just then, her light stopped glowing.

"_Verge!"_ Penn didn't care about how cold she was. He picked her up and cradled her in his hands. He gently held her close to his heart and shut his eyes. "No! You can't…you can't be dead! Please…don't die!" He felt the tears flowing from his eyes and onto Verge's lifeless body. But even that didn't bring her back.

"Penn…" Sashi said sadly, putting a hand on his shoulder. Penn was panicking too much to push it away. It was bad enough he lost his parents...now he lost his family again... Sashi sniffled, as she took her Specs off and wiped her eyes. All Boone could do was whimper softly as he held his head in his hands.

The redhead couldn't speak. All Penn could think of was the times he spent with the fairy. He remembered every single moment they spent together. He remembered the day he first found her on the streets and took her in. He remembered the times they spent with his parents. He remembered their very first mission together. He remembered the times she hid in his hair. He remembered the times they flew in the air. He remembered how he couldn't have been a part-time hero without her encouragement. He remembered the times she was just there. Being his fairy guide, and his best friend.

"I believe…" he whispered. "I do believe…I do believe in fairies….I do, I do…I do believe in fairies…I do, I do…I do believe in fairies…I do, I do…"

"What's he saying?" Boone tried asking. But Sashi cut him off and joined.

"I do believe in fairies…I do, I do! I do believe in fairies…I do, I do!"

"…I do believe in fairies…I do, I do! I do believe in fairies…I do, I do!"

Even Larry, who was gagged by Sashi started chanting. "A dyu beriv im fayiyes! A dyu, a dyu!"

Penn could feel as if the whole world started joining them. He could almost feel the Lighters down below, chanting the same thing over and over again, without any reason to say it, but they said it anyway. He could feel people from other dimensions chanting the same thing. His hopes were lifted, because he knew everyone was on his side.

"_I do believe in fairies! I do, I do!"_

**(A/N: If you guys know this moment too, then I am forever proud :D)**

"I do believe in fairies…I do, I do…" he chanted softly. "But most of all, Verge…I believe in you."

Suddenly, there was a glow. Not just from the summit. Penn felt warmth in his hands and they all gasped when they saw gold. The light returned to the wings. Light color returned to the body, and the eyes started to flutter open. When she looked up at everyone, they all looked back down at her with wide smiles and happiness in their eyes.

"_Verge! You're alive!"_

Penn threw the fairy into the air, and she immediately started flying again. She spun in circles around her friends, as they all laughed together at the fairy's energy. The fairy dust had returned to her control, and Verge just spread it around. Her friends gathered around her, as they all enveloped each other in a group hug. Verge finally grew to human size, as all her friends could do now was grip her tightly.

When they pulled away, Verge gave Penn a hug of his own. He immediately hugged her back, trying to hinder the tears from falling any more. He just stayed in that position, once again glad that his best friend didn't leave again.

They pulled away and looked into each other's eyes, with the blue hue on the brunette's eyes finally returning to its natural color. Verge wiped the tears away and forced a childish smile. "I'm sorry."

"Verge…you could've…this isn't…you should've just…" The redhead was at a loss for words.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to worry you…."

"You hawkhead!" he laughed, but it faltered. "Worry me? If you died, I don't know _what_ I would've done! Why didn't you just warn me about the I don't believe deal? I could've _done_ something."

Verge blinked at his friend, quite surprised at his words. When he stared at her, she couldn't help but frown and regret everything. And still she answered with such sincerity. "I don't tell you everything."

Penn hit her on the head hard. While she complained and held her head, Boone and Sashi laughed as they all started to hug her again.

"So…how's about time we finally finish this mission?"

The quartet finally made their way to the summit. The light grew even brighter now. On the very top of the mountain, Penn saw a little stool from where the light source lay. Everyone shielded their eyes as they neared it. The redhead grinned proudly, ready to receive their prize of the mission. He reached forward and grasped the light source, as everyone gasped in awe.

"A flashlight?" Penn questioned, a little confused as he examined the handheld device. Boone and Sashi could only deadpan at the object. Verge lit up as she took the flashlight and looked at it for herself. She turned it on and off over and over again, quite intrigued that something as small as this could bring light to an entire city. Penn only stared at her foolishness. Finally, Sashi snatched the light from her hand.

"I can't believe we scaled an entire mountain and practically risked having Verge die before our eyes because of something as small as this…"

"Cheer up, Sash," Verge said, nudging her. "A mission is a mission. Let's just be glad we were able to accomplish this one."

Penn smirked. "Now, that's looking on the bright side."

Before they got zapped back home, Penn turned the flashlight on and shone it down on the land.

* * *

"So, how are we so sure Rippen's never going to say 'it' again?"

"Well, if one fails to kill a fairy from saying 'it', the person forgets how to do it completely!"

"Sounds rather farfetched to me…"

"Well, you better believe it!"

Penn rolled his eyes. "Still…I'm glad you're alive, Verge."

The fairy smiled back as she sat in his hair. "I'm glad too, Penn. Thanks for everything." The boy smiled up at her. "So…can you read the story to me tonight? Pleeeeaaaasseee?"

The redhead laughed as he lay down on his bed while holding the fairy's favorite book. "All right, all right. But it's only because you almost died today."

"OK, fineee. Maybe I should die everyday then."

Penn hoped she was joking.

"Once upon a time…"

* * *

**Yaaaaay I published the fifth last special episode of the story!**

**Hope you guys liked it~ I certainly hope it didn't seem to rushed! Thanks again to MusicMeisterLover for giving me this idea! The request was totally special episode finale material! I can't wait to write more in the future sequel! X3 (Charr2003, I'll be sure to write your request eventually, I promise! ;) )**

**Actually, don't think of me as selfish, but there's just one thing I want to say right now… As most of you know, I don't have a lot of favorites. Sure, I have readers, and I'm very thankful for that. But as most of you also know, there are about 18 PZ:PTH stories on fanfiction. Which means there are a limited people of PZ writers out there. And I'm not sure if people are aware, but I always review on those stories. I want to be nice! Again, there aren't many stories out there. What disappoints me is that none of those writers read my story in return (Mjzero06, you're an exception! Haha) It's just sad to know that when one tries to be kind, you really can't expect anything else from that. I'm not asking them to favorite my stories, but I would like a sign that those writers actually read and like it. Even a PM is fine! When I try to reach out to those writers, I get no reply (Again, Mjzero06, I'm not talking about you lolol) But yeah, if you're a PZ writer and you're reading this…no hard feelings, k? This is just how I feel.**

**Now onto happier terms! If any of you are Rippen lovers, I made a Rippen x Teacher! Reader on DA! It was a request by MML again and actually the first oneshot X-Reader story I ever published! If you want to read it, check for my DA link on my profile and look for it in my Requests folder.**

**That's all for now~ I'm also looking into writing a Penn x Reader, but I'm not sure! Depends on the time I have :) Remember, when the Ripple Effect is finally up, I won't write a chapter right away! You guys would have to wait a while, and I hope that's OK! Again, hope this chapter was all right, and I hope you enjoyed~ Keep yourself updated, guys~ I'll see you all real soon! –Ridaa**


	32. The Ripple Effect

**Episode 26: The Ripple Effect**

* * *

**IminahurryIllfixtheauthorsnotelaterlol**

* * *

As Phyllis zapped the heroes back into their normal dimension, Penn groaned. "Ugh! I can't believe that potato monster slimed us."

Verge flew onto the ground, arms crossed. "On the plus side, I was able to dowse it off, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but water isn't exactly going to wash away the memory."

"And for the record," Boone cut in. "That was not slime. That was snot, cause it's thicker consistency."

Sashi smirked. "You say potato monster slime, you say potatoh monster snot."

"Yeah, but nobody said potatoh," Penn noted.

"Guys, does it matter?" Verge asked, getting dizzy by the thought. "Let's just go home."

"It does raise another question," Boone said. "Is it snot, or snowt?"

Suddenly, a bright light was flashed down upon them. The four shielded their eyes as Phyllis glared. "Stupid conversation stops now!"

"Hey!" The mechanic took all four of them and pushed them out the Odyssey door. Verge quickly turned smaller and stood on Penn's hand.

"Talk about snoot on your own time." With that, she slammed the door.

"Phyllis threw us out even faster than usual," Sashi noted.

"Honestly, you gotta hand it to the lady," Boone said. "She's not slowing down with age."

Verge nodded. "Still wondering what _age_ that is, though."

Suddenly, Penn noticed something. "Oh no. Ah, I forgot my backpack. You guys go ahead. We'll see you tomorrow."

"Later!/All right, see ya!"

"Only you'd forget a backpack?" Verge noted, smirking a bit.

"She threw us out even faster than usual, remember? Come on."

The boy and the fairy opened the door again and poked their heads in. "Hello?" Penn called. "It's just me and Verge, Phyllis! Do _not_ let your guard bear off its chain!"

"There it is." Verge flew off his hand and walked over to the counter. Penn's bag lay there, where he usually left it. Once the boy shouldered it on, they suddenly heard a voice. It was coming from the Employees Only room.

"_Yes, Penn and Verge would really like to hear this conversation."_

"Who could she be talking to?" Penn asked.

Verge shrugged. "Dunno. Only one way to find out, right?" When the fairy smirked up at her friend, Penn grinned.

They walked over to the door and quickly pressed their ears against it. _"It's good I got rid of them. Now I will lower my voice."_

When Penn tried opening the door, it wouldn't budge. "Hmm…" he mused, hesitating. Verge then poked him in the cheek and pointed upwards. The redhead lit up when he saw a vent door, leading right to the room. Bingo.

After a quick dusting, Penn opened it up and the two crawled inside. Verge acted as the light and guided him in. But the more nervous she got, the louder the flicker of her wings could be heard through the cramped area. "Verge, shh!" Penn hushed.

"Sorry, can't help it! Look."

"So, we agree? We can't tell Penn or Verge."

At those words, the two exchanged a look. "Was that…"

"Yes. We must keep it from them."

"Mom? Dad?" Penn echoed, gripping the vent bars. Down below, Phyllis was having a little MUHU chat with the lost parents. Verge could see them clearly through the vent, but she was so tempted to get a closer look.

"Hang on," the mechanic said, holding her hand up. "Before we talk about secret detail, this conversation is making Phyllis very cold."

Instantly, the fairy's eyes widened when she saw Phyllis lean towards the table. She felt the air getting warmer, therefore making it harder for them in the vent. Penn wiped his forehead, but the heat wasn't helping the vent door. It slipped open, and Penn almost yelped as he fell forward. Verge resisted the urge to shout.

As Penn dangled over the adults, they could still hear them talking as Verge tried dusting him. "Now, we can start talking openly about our secret."

"Hurry up!" Penn whisper-yelled.

"I'm trying! Oh, look a mouse."

Penn looked up to see a small white mouse at the edge of the one screw that held the vent door up. It squeaked as it smiled at them. "That's the thing about secrets…someone always wants to overhear it…"

Just then, the mouse brought a screwdriver out. Penn understood immediately while Verge could only stare. The rodent started banging it against the vent door screw, and Penn immediately started to fall. The fairy didn't even see it coming, and the redhead restrained himself from yelling her name.

Luckily, Penn fell into a box of feathers. Verge let out a soft sigh of relief. The adults didn't even hear them yet. "Yes," Vonnie was saying. "And let's start with the most interesting part of our secret."

"Geez," Verge murmured, flying up to Penn distractedly. "You would think they're _trying_ to leave us in suspense."

Unfortunately, she was too late again. When Penn tried leaning in to hear better, he only ended up falling once more. Only this time, he let loose some firecrackers and chickens. Of course by then, the adults had noticed by now. Verge quickly flew down, hoping to catch the boy.

"_Ahhh!" _he was shouting, as he fell out of a box of Christmas lights. The fairy grew bigger, hoping to catch him. Penn landed on her safely, but he still rubbed his head and groaned. "Hah, glad that's over…"

"Oww…" Verge said loudly from underneath him. She looked up at the redhead in slight annoyance. Penn looked down and chuckled awkwardly as he finally got off.

He had to. Phyllis' guard bear was there, swiping its claws at the two. When it growled, Penn cowered back in fear. Verge tried flying up to it with her hands held up. "Easy, easy!" she said calmly. Having an animal side in her, the bear was confused, as he seemed to understand.

Phyllis stepped up and looked at her pet. "Karen the bear. Let them go!" The guard bear recoiled fully after that. Penn tried to hide the fact he exhaled so loudly.

"What are you doing in Phyllis' secret meeting room?" the mechanic demanded, as Penn walked up to the couch and just relaxed on it. Verge flew by his side and sat by the edge as she grew to human size. She looked over at Penn to answer that question.

"Well, we could ask you the same thing."

The elder Zeros looked at each other nervously.

"What's going on here?" Verge asked this time. "Are you…talking about us behind our backs?" No one replied yet. Verge could see Phyllis shrugging at the Zeros. Penn could only stare blankly.

"Ummmm…" Brock started, letting his words roll off. "Well! Here's the thing, guys. We needed to talk to Phyllis in private, so we could get her…um, her, her secret, uh, recipe! For um, food." Vonnie Zero smiled brightly in hope.

The two young ones exchanged another deadpan look. "Food, huh?" Penn said. "Yeah, I can see why that would be pretty private." When they looked at Phyllis, for once, she actually looked nervous.

"Because it is surprise food? For…your…birth…day?"

"…Seriously?" Verge deadpanned.

Penn turned away. "We're not buying it."

It was now Vonnie's turn. "I remember holding you as a baby, knowing the day would come when we couldn't mislead you with carefully constructed lies. And now it's here!" She wiped away a fake tear for dramatic effect.

"How come I don't get any sentiment?" Verge blurted out.

"Oh, honey, you saw through most of our lies."

"They were the only lies I could get!"

"Mom," Penn interrupted. "Quit stalling."

The mother gave up. "OK, tell them Phyllis."

"Yeah, tell us Phyllis."

When Penn turned to his side, he was surprised the mechanic wasn't there anymore. When he turned back to the table, he yelped when Phyllis was now in front of him. Verge only tilted her head, wondering how she even did that.

"I talk to your parents every week about my progress in locating Most Dangerous World Imaginable."

This caused the two to pause. Penn and Verge exchanged one more look, but it was more of looks of disbelief. "Wait," Penn said slowly, sitting up. "You found where they're trapped?"

"I know basic area in multi-verse…"

"Phyllis…that's awesome!" Verge practically shouted out. She leapt from her seat and started flying around in circles again, just like how she usually did when she was happy.

Penn was just as overjoyed. "Well then we gottaa rescue them and bring 'em home!" He raised his hand up and Verge passed it, quickly high-fiving. "Let's go get them now, come on zap us in Phyllis, let's go!" You could really detect the excitement in his tone.

"You see? This is why we don't tell you!" As Phyllis scolded, the monsters in the other dimension started attacking Brock and Vonnie again. They just punched them away easily, as if this was a daily routine (which now that you think about it probably was). "You must be very precise when you rant. This dimension is very dangerous. Is _Most Dangerous World Imaginable." _

"We are aware, Phyllis," Verge said. It was hard to tell if she was sarcastic or not again.

"I don't care how dangerous it is," Penn snapped. "Verge and I want to save them!"

"Honey, just be patient a little longer," Vonnie said softly. "For us?"

"Mrs. Vonnie—" Verge started.

"Come on, Vergie," Brock interrupted. "You too?"

The duo looked at each other, now disappointed. They sighed together and looked at the adults. "OK, OK, I promise we'll be patient," Penn said. "100%, no matter what."

Verge was the only one that saw him cross his fingers.

"Good," Phyllis said, almost in relief. "Now you _must go."_

This time, when she kicked them out, the duo didn't mind. As they walked, Penn scribbled two notes on two separate pieces of paper. "I'll make up an excuse to Aunt Rose and Uncle Chuck why you weren't with me. Just hurry back."

Verge saluted playfully. "Sir yes sir!" With that, the fairy flew off.

She zoomed over to Sashi's house first real quick. When she got there, Verge taped one of the papers onto the closet door. She quickly flew back out to do the same at Boone's. As she did, Sashi just came in at the same time. Her eyes widened when she saw the note and ripped it off her closet to read what was written: _Stakeout tonight. –PZ &amp; V_

* * *

That night, as Penn and Verge were now lying in their beds, all tucked in, Penn's aunt and uncle decided to sing to them a little lullaby:

"_Close your eyes and sleep tight  
_'_Cause Uncle Chuck and Aunt Rose  
__Sprayed your beds for spiders, ants, and pillow mites!"_

Verge sat up in her little matchbox as she and Penn looked at each other. "Is that just a song, or did you really spray our beds with poison?"

"Maybe, we'll answer your question in a dream," Uncle Chuck joked. "Penn-sylvania!"

"Time to get some shut-eye!" Aunt Rose sang, reaching out to close the boy's eyelids. "Penn-jamin Franklin!"

"Guys, I told you about the nicknames!" Penn complained. "And touching my eyes. It's not cool."

In the background, Verge was giggling slightly. Penn looked over at her, slightly annoyed. But the fairy's joy had to end soon. "Don't think we forgot about you, little Detergent~" When Aunt Rose ruffled the fairy's head, she groaned.

"Aww, Aunt Rose, really? Again with the Detergent? I still don't know what that is." That only caused the adults to giggle.

"Good night!" They switched the lights off and climbed down the stairs, leaving the two alone now.

Once Penn was sure they were gone, both got out of their beds. Penn had his backpack on already, and Verge carried her satchel. She flew over to Penn, who juggled a flashlight in his hands. They quickly fist-bumped as they rolled over to the window. Verge opened it up as Penn brought out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "Hot Potato, this is Cotton Candy and Firefly. All clear up here."

As he flickered the light, Verge noticed Sashi and Boone hiding behind a bush. It appeared as if Sashi was the only one being serious about all this. The fairy saw her speak into her own walkie-talkie. _"Roger. Over."_

"Let's go, Verge." Penn said, nodding. He brought out a rope, and Verge stared at it.

"No dust?"

"Well, like you say, Verge. Where's the fun if everything's solved with fairy dust?" Verge only rolled her eyes in response.

"_Cotton Candy, Firefly, come in. The Chinchilla is under its rounds. You have two minutes."_

Penn dropped the rope, and proceeded climbing down. As Verge followed, Penn suddenly heard Boone's voice. _"Hang on!"_

"What's wrong?"

"_I'm gonna need confirmation that you remembered to bring snacks. Over." _At that, both he and Verge rolled their eyes.

Once they were both on the ground, Penn had a good look around. "Duck!" Verge hissed, nudging his head into a bush. The Chinchilla was just passing them with its little ride, scanning the area pretty seriously. Penn tried to run away, but it only found them again. The light hit his face, and Verge saw it about to blow its whistle.

But then it stopped. The little animal squeaked as it dropped to the ground, and it revealed Sashi had just knocked it out with her dart. A satisfied look was on her face as she dropped in on the two.

"The Chinchilla will sleep well tonight."

The fairy frowned as she stroked its furry little ears.

From then on, the four safely made their way to the Odyssey entrance. Penn pushed the doors, but he should've expected the result. "It's locked."

Verge widened her eyes when she saw Sashi bring another thing out of her bag. "You guys might want to take cover."

"Sashi. Dynamite. Really?"

"Oh, you know me."

Boone frowned. "Yeah, I'm gonna go hide inside."

He then proceeded bringing out a key from his pocket and used it to open the door. Everyone stared when he got in. "I'm sorry, Phyllis gave _you_ a key?" Penn demanded.

"Uh, yeah, I _am_ her most responsible employee."

"Now I feel offended," Verge murmured, as they followed him inside.

With their flashlights and Verge, the two entered the MUT area, ready to start their "mission". They climbed up to Phyllis' usual platform, and Penn grinned as he had a look around. "All right. So you guys zap us into the Most Dangerous World Imaginable, we find my parents, you zap us back."

"I don't like sending you in alone," Sashi said, hiding the worry in her tone.

"Well, I need you guys here in case something goes wrong. Besides, Verge is with me."

"Finally I get the recognition I deserve," the fairy smirked, going human size and flew over.

Penn grinned and looked up at all the buttons. "OK…this looks pretty self-explanatory!"

He pressed a random button, and a toaster filled with cards popped out. He pressed another, and it produced a coffee maker…with eyes. He got annoyed more, and just started pressing random buttons. His friends widened their eyes when he somehow ended up making disco lights appear and music echo out. "Zero!" Verge hissed.

"Hey, I'm trying!" He closed his eyes and pressed one last button. The music and lights died down, and the lights to the room finally flickered on. The rest of the MUT technology was also up, and Verge smiled brightly when she saw the dimension search screen.

But Penn only stared at a few blinking words. _Most Dangerous World Imaginable._

"Bingo."

He flicked the switch, and the MUT started up.

The duo grinned as they got onto the platform. Sashi looked down at them, now more worried. "This feels wrong, guys. We shouldn't do this without Phyllis."

"Phyllis is too cautious," Penn noted. "Guys, it's my Mom and Dad."

Boone and Sashi looked at each other and then at Verge. The fairy looked up at them innocently. "We _want_ to do this. We're doing this for family."

Penn nodded. "We're doing this with or without you."

Sashi only stared. She looked into their pitiful sets of blue eyes and finally gave in. The brunette sighed and turned away, which resulted to the two smiling again. She pressed a button, and Penn gave her a thumbs up. As the zapping started, the he and Verge gave each other one last fist-bump for good luck.

Sashi's stern expression quickly softened when she watched them leave. "Good luck."

* * *

When Penn emerged from what looked like clouds and first saw the dimension, he looked at himself. "Huh. I'm still me. That's weird. Verge?"

"Yep," the fairy spoke, also emerging and waving a hand. She got uncomfortable and shrunk down to sit on his shoulder. "I'm just gonna…yeah."

Penn smirked. "You're not scared, are you?"

"Pffft, what? I uh…just—hey look over there!"

When the redhead looked up, he lit up when he actually saw some shadows. They looked vaguely familiar, and immediately sparked some hope in Penn. "Mom? Dad? Mom, Dad! I've come to bring you home!"

He started walking forward, already ranting. Verge wanted to speak up, but the chills she felt in her body worsened. There was something very wrong…. "Uncle Chuck and Aunt Rose have been staying in your room, so we'll have to find someplace else for them, obviously can't be my room, 'cause uh, we're not really seeing eye-to-eye lately, but we can work this out later. Just not my room, k?"

"Zero…"

"Yeah, Verge, I know, come on, look they—"

Penn suddenly trailed off when he did realize the truth. The clouds gave way to the real owners of the shadows, and the redhead got severely confused. "Teddy bears?" he echoed.

"I knew it…" Verge murmured quietly, but Penn didn't hear her.

"Your mommy and daddy aren't here!" Penn looked down and almost gasped to see a tiny little creature speak up from behind what looked like a medium-sized rock. It retreated back into its hiding place, only creeping Verge out and making Penn furious.

"Well, where are they you monsters!" He broke the two bears in rage and searched the ground, hoping to pick something up. Verge quickly flew off his shoulder and had a good look around. It was still pretty misty, but she had an idea of where they were.

"This…isn't…"

Penn got a hold of something and pointed a finger at it. "I'm not something to take lightly!"

"_Ah!"_

"Wait, what? Why are you so cute?"

Verge looked at the creature in his hand and her eyes widened. It wasn't scary at all. In fact, if anything, it was scared of _them. _The fairy did the first thing she could and flew over. "OK, easy there…"

"Help, help!" it only shouted out.

"No, no! We come in peace! We…"

Verge looked down and Penn saw that more creatures like the one he was holding started gathering around the two. They were muttering and murmuring, looking pretty frightened and confused, especially when they saw Penn holding one of their kind. "Attention all Cutelings! A big meanie giant and its little winged friend have invaded the Cuteling planet! We must defend our cute way of life!"

"Cutelings?" Penn and Verge echoed. When he let the Cuteling down and stood up, Penn walked around, looking confused. But then he suddenly realized the plant was way smaller than they thought it was. A normal human could run _laps _around it. That is, if they avoided the little houses. Verge got a brief look around the planet, and all the Cutelings got scared when they saw her. It made her frown.

"Zero…" Verge said, flying back to him. "This is wrong…this is all wrong…"

"Cuteling soldiers! Fire the cotton balls! Fire! Fire! Fire!"

The two thought it was just some sort of codename for a weapon, but the little creatures literally shot cotton balls at them. Verge didn't know if it was a joke, but the two just tried dodging them. "No, no, no, guys!" Penn shouted. "Please, just save your cotton balls! There's been a big misunderstanding!"

"Release the kittens!"

"No, no, no, no! Don't release the kittens!" Penn tried to hide in his laughter as the little furry animals rubbed up against his leg. Verge couldn't help herself. She flew downwards, took one kitten and hugged it for herself.

"Awww, I would like to have you guys destroy me any day!"

"W-We're just here looking for our parents! OK, they'd be easy to spot because they're big like me!"

Suddenly, Penn tripped over a kitten. He let out a gasp as he fell onto a Cuteling house. From below, Verge could see a Cuteling birthday party happening. The rubble mist from the house that fell got caught in the fire from the birthday candles. Because of that, everything else around started bursting into flames. "Zero!"

When Verge tried flying up to dowse the flames, a kitten reached up and held her back. "Get off!" she commanded, but for the first time, an animal wouldn't listen to her. She pushed it off, but now the Cutelings started surrounding her. They held her down, and even grabbed her wings so she wouldn't fly off. Now vulnerable, all she did was shout. "Help!"

"Verge!" Penn shouted, reaching forward and plucking her out. "Sashi! Boone! Zap us back! Quick!"

"Zero, get up!" As Verge urged him to stand, the Cutelings began chasing them and shouting. The duo gasped as they ran/flew off.

Surprisingly, for such small creatures, the Cutelings were fast. They first caught up to Penn, who was confused at the tactic they used to catch him. They had what looked like a really thick rope and threw it over Penn. He barely saw it coming. With all the strength they had, they managed to get him to trip and fall over, causing him to shout out, and getting Verge to turn around.

"Hey!"

"Get the winged one too!" the Cuteling mayor commanded. The Cutelings let out their yells and sprung to action.

"No, Verge, run away!" Penn yelled, trying to break out of the ropes. He only ended up failing.

"I can't just leave you—"

She wished she had. The Cutelings used the same rope to grab her by the wrists. Verge tried pulling and flying away, but the Cutelings were stronger than they looked. Once she was on the ground, they tied her up and threw her on top of Penn's forehead.

"Hey, Zero." She slid off his forehead and ended up over his eyes. Penn gave one jerk of his head and she landed on his chest.

"Let us go!" Penn commanded at the Cutelings.

"Struggle all you want!" the Cuteling Mayor said. "You shall _never _break free of our super-strength licorice!"

"Verge, what's going on?" It's as if he didn't know yet….

"Isn't it obvious? We're in the _opposite _dimension of the Most Dangerous World Imaginable! And we're gonna die in these cute little creatures' hands! How pathetic is that…"

"Well, maybe if we're lucky, they won't really hurt us, I mean, they really are adorable."

"This is why we should've waited…" Verge said, mostly talking to herself. "We can't even handle the most harmless dimension in the multi-verse…what more when we go to where your parents are?"

It was hard to stay positive when your best _guide_ was saying all this. "Verge…don't—"

He was interrupted by the Cuteling Mayor again. "For destroying our world, we will make an ice cream sundae on both of you, then our collection of baby animal friends will devour you!"

"No, look! This is all just a _huge _misunderstanding!"

No one seemed to listen to him. They didn't want to. Not after all he did. "Cuteling Air Brigade!" the Cuteling General commanded. "Hit them with the ice cream!"

Small airplanes from up above started circling around overhead and dropped scoops of ice cream over Penn's tied up body. "No, no, ah! That's cold! Stop it!"

Verge gasped as one scoop enveloped her completely. She sat upwards, her head poking out of the dessert and frowned at her surroundings. She reached downwards and took a big bite of chocolate ice cream and chewed slowly. "Huh. I'm delicious." She also noticed she was chewing on the licorice ropes that were tying her. It gave her a little idea and she continued on chewing.

"Deploy the whipped cream, the sprinkles, and the hot fudge!"

As the following ingredients landed on the duo, Penn only continued to grunt and get annoyed as the hot fudge was sprayed all over his face. "Aw, you could have at least gotten some in my mouth?" His question was answered by a spray in the eye.

"Where's my cherry?"

A Cuteling in a crane arrived with a Verge head-sized cherry and he placed it right in the middle of Penn's ice cream body. All the Cutelings cheered, but Penn and Verge's eyes widened in fright. The baby animals started closing in, and Verge continued chewing faster.

"Well, Penn, you old fool," the redhead told himself. "Can't believe this is how it ends. Covered in sundae toppings and being eaten by adorable baby animals. Verge…it was nice knowing you."

"Not so fast, Zero!" Once the fairy ate the last of her licorice ropes, she burst out of the ice cream scoop, fluttering her wings, and setting herself free. With a grin, she was finally able to grow to her human size, thus becoming yet another giant to the Cutelings. With this, they all gasped.

"I knew it! That winged little one is a winged giant one!" the Cuteling Mayor cried.

The now giant fairy pointed at all the animals that seemed to be looking at her and cried out in a commanding tone, "Stay!" They all cowered and sat down.

"Verge!" Penn cried out. That's all he could do right now, really.

As the Cutelings started running around again, Verge pulled at the licorice ropes. "We have to get you out before—"

Too late. Before she knew it, there came the zap they were waiting for and the two were gone.

* * *

Back on Earth, Penn felt relieved to be free as the two just dropped onto the MUT platform. "Oh, Boone, Sashi, thank you so mu—"

When the two looked up, they were staring up at a certain, very dark-looking mechanic. "Phyllis. Uh, I can explain—"

She squinted at them, as if giving some kind of message. Penn looked behind him and cowered at the dimension he had destroyed. When Verge flew upwards and she looked at their friends, she could only frown apologetically as Boone and Sashi exchanged guilty looks. When Penn looked at the rest of the area, he could only think of how much of a mess it was since he left. When he and Verge looked at each other, they never looked more worried.

"No explanation needed. You are fired. Both of you. Good luck!"

When they looked up at her, terror occupied their eyes. Disbelief filled their brains, but only Verge seemed to accept the truth. Her flying slowed down and her wings drooped as she stood staring at her feet on the ground. She didn't think this was happening, but it was…

Penn was trying to look for a bright side. "I'm sorry, Phyllis, did you tell us we're fired, or we're tired? Because I could use a quick cat nap." When he stretched, Verge could only look at him like she was sorry.

"No. You and your cats are fired. Go." Penn didn't reply. Phyllis turned to Boone and Sashi. "You two! Get ready to zap."

"Wha—?" Boone cried out as they stepped onto the platforms. "No—But we need Penn and Verge!"

"Fine! Here is pen." Phyllis threw a literal ballpen at the boy and he clicked it once he caught it.

"…Microgel. Nice." Penn stared at him. "But what about Verge?"

"You can find the verge of your former coworkers' misery when you zap."

"Well, that's just a horrible way to use my name…" Verge muttered.

"Sorry Phyllis," Sashi said stubbornly. "We're not doing it without Penn and Verge."

This made the duo smile.

"So you let balance of good and evil in multi-verse tip towards evil?" the mechanic asked. "Meaning end of life for everyone?"

Sashi sighed. "Dramatic much, Phyllis?"

"You!" Penn and Verge looked up at Phyllis, who was still looking at them coldly. "Go home. You have no reason to be here!"

"But Phyllis, we—"

The woman wouldn't even listen. She turned away and started up the MUT. Penn sighed, as Verge frowned. They watched as their friends got zapped without them. The fairy put a hand on the redhead's shoulder, and the two walked out together. Phyllis barely gave them a second glance.

Once they were out of the Odyssey, Verge just collapsed on the sidewalk and held her head in her hands. Her wings were drooped, and her light was fading slightly. You would think she was dying all over again, but it now seemed like a thing she would do now when she was sad. Penn sat beside her, not daring to say anything. Her words from earlier still struck him, and he was still thinking. Frankly, it was true. They could barely stop themselves from destroying the whole planet. When Penn saw how sad and quiet Verge looked, he had to speak up.

"Verge, look…about earlier…you were right, OK? I brought us into this…we…should really have just been patient…we didn't even have a chance back there."

"Don't say that, Zero," Verge said with such a blank tone. "I know it's my fault as well…I'm sorry too. I guess I was just mad 'cause it was the first time we ever failed…but don't take it personally."

"I think I failed more. You at least got yourself free. Meanwhile…"

Now, the fairy laughed a bit, which made Penn smile a little as well. "A fairy guide must always look after her hero. And just for the record, you can't always take the blame, OK? Remember I agreed to this too. I _wanted_ to save Brock and Vonnie…"

Penn nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks. Of course I know that. But even apologizing to each other isn't gonna bring our jobs back…"

With that, they just continued to sit in silence.

Suddenly, Penn heard a beeping. It was his MUHU. "I think I have an idea on who that is…" Verge murmured. Penn frowned and answered the call.

"Hi, Penn, Verge," Brock greeted. "We heard Phyllis fired you two."

"Yeah, yeah…" The two looked at each other, not even trying to smile. "What are you guys eating?"

"Eyeballs. They taste kinda like an apple mixed with the grossest thing you've ever eaten."

"I don't think I like them now," Verge noted, mustering a disgusted face.

"So, how are you going to fix things, you two?"

"I dunno," Penn sighed, standing. "We really screwed up this time. We were so focused on finding you guys that I destroyed a whole planet! It's not very heroic."

Verge patted his shoulder again and frowned at the two adults. "We're really sorry."

"Aw, Vergie," Brock chuckled. "You can't return things to normal by just saying sorry. It's fine."

"No…we _really_ hawked this one up."

Vonnie tried smiling. "Heroes screw up all the time! I once accidentally blew up Egg City. You can imagine how long that took to put back together." When she bit into an eyeball, Penn restrained from making a face but failed. Verge had to laugh a bit.

"Well…that does make things a little better?"

"The point is," Brock cut in. "When you mess up, you fix it. No one can fire either of you from being a hero." Suddenly, the eyeball monster that occupied the area they were eating in came in and started to attack. Vonnie took a flaming stick and continued the lecture.

"We share the last name Zero because we failed zero missions! You wanna be known as Penn One?"

"No, no, that sounds awful," Penn admitted. "A terrible diet sports drink…plus, I don't want _Verge _to start calling _me_ One…"

"Speaking of, what about me?" Verge asked. "I'm not a Zero. I don't have a last name in general. Where're my standards for screwing up?"

At that, the two adults both looked straight into the fairy's eyes. "Verge, honey," Vonnie said slowly. "You were _always _a Zero! The minute we saw you wake up, we knew you were a part of our family."

"You may not use the name," Brock continued. "But you _are_ a very important piece in this little group of ours."

"They're right," Penn agreed, ruffling Verge's hair. She laughed a little, and looked back at the adults. You could almost see her blue eyes shining with love and admiration.

"…Well then, what's stopping us now?"

"You guys have to ask yourselves what are you prepared to do."

When the duo looked at each other, they slowly shared a smile before turning to the parents and answering together. "Whatever it takes."

Penn switched his MUHU off, ending the call. Verge stood and helped him up. "So, Penn. What's the plan?"

He smiled at that and started to hesitate. As the sun rose before them, the rays seemed to direct his eyes towards a certain building that stood by the Odyssey. When Penn thought, Verge followed his gaze and frowned.

"This is a horrible plan."

"Come on!"

Penn practically had to drag her inside. Verge tried shouting complaints as he forced her sleeveless vest onto her. When they entered the store, there was only one man that seemed to be eating fish sticks for breakfast and Phil who was at the counter. When he saw the two, he raised an eyebrow. "Penn One, Fairy. What do you want?"

"Is my name really that hard to remember?" Verge complained. "See, all villains don't remember the side characters!"

Penn ignored her. "Mmm, Penn One. Really doesn't roll off the tongue." He rubbed his hands together. "OK…we would like to apply to be part-time villains."

Phil shrugged. "OK. We do interview. What evil experience do you have?"

"Agreeing to this job application."

The redhead quickly nudged her. "Evil experience, well uh, I skipped ahead in line in the cafeteria last week, and—Oh yeah! We totally destroyed the Least Dangerous World Imaginable. Just today. No—Yes."

Phil hesitated and looked at Verge. "…I steal and lie a lot, does that count?"

His eyes slightly widened. "You steal and lie?"

"I don't tell you everything. This is the first time we ever talked, actually."

He stared again and scribbled in his pad. "What is biggest weakness?"

"Hawks." Penn looked at her. "But that's about it."

The redhead groaned inwardly. "Ooh, that's tough…for me. Uhh, well, I guess sometimes I might be…too evil?"

"He's right. He dragged me into this after all."

Phil seemed to see through it. "Congratulation. Best interviews ever."

"Great!" Penn exclaimed.

"Wow, didn't think it would work."

"Verge. Shrink. Now."

"OK, OK, fine."

"So, can we start today?"

"Go-getter too. Very impressed." Phil nodded as Penn stepped onto the platform. "I zap you in as Cuteling citizen."

"No, wait wait wait! How about you zap me in as myself? Then I'll be giant, and we can totally destroy that little planet!"

"Hmm…could unbalance multi-verse and end all life as we know it. But, you have evil face…" When Verge looked down from Penn's hair and saw him, all she could do was shake her head. "Bad luck."

And for the first time ever, Penn and Verge got zapped in as villains. Or so Phil thought.

* * *

Once they were back, they didn't even pay attention to the destruction first. Verge immediately saw Boone and Sashi as Cutelings stuck in a planet gap and pointed excitedly. Penn grinned widely down at the two, and their friends had to smile back.

"Penn! Verge! You zapped in!" Sashi cheered.

"Hey. It's good to see you guys too." Penn took them by their Cuteling antennae and set them back safely on the ground. Verge flew towards them and gave them quick hugs. Penn crouched down to talk to them. "We have a relatively small planet to save."

"_You're too late to the party, Penn!" _a voice from the Cuteling rocket called out. It was a 100% most likely Rippen. But another voice followed it.

"_Oh, oh, is that Penn, is that Penn? Tell him I say hi."_

"_I will not."_

"_Hi Penn!"_

"_Ugh."_

The four exchanged blank looks before Penn continued. "OK, I have an idea, but we're gonna have to work fast. You guys! Go get as much hot fudge as we can! The chocolatier, the better."

Boone and Sashi smiled and saluted, glad they were accepting orders again.

When Penn stood, Verge flew up in front of his face. "What do I do, Zero?"

The boy smiled. "Verge, of course. Grow to human size. I'm gonna need your help."

As the fairy grew, Penn ran up to a large spool. It looked like it was holding some rope, but the duo knew by now what it was really made of. "OK, super-strength licorice. Time to shine. Verge…"

"No explanation needed," Verge said jokingly, as she found the other end and took it. Penn smiled and nodded.

The two went their separate ways as they started tying the world together with it. The licorice held the planet parts together, but they knew it couldn't hold for long. When they met again, they were able to tie both ends together, with still some remaining licorice to spare. As they pulled, Boone and Sashi were arriving with a truckload of hot fudge from earlier. Sashi's eyes lit up when she saw the progress. "You're doing it, guys!"

"Dump the hot fudge down the crack," Penn said. "It'll act like glue!"

The two obeyed. Boone used the hose to fill the cracks, but even with that, Penn and Verge couldn't keep onto the licorice. "We can't…hold it!"

"Zero!"

Suddenly, the redhead slipped, and Penn got thrown onto the ground. A piece of the super-strength licorice started to break. "You can do it, Penn One!" Boone called.

As the two struggled to keep hold of the licorice, Verge looked up to the sky and lit up. She gestured with her head and Penn followed the direction. The only thing he saw was the Cuteling rocket, but he understood immediately. Before another thought came to his mind, he grinned at the fairy beside him.

"My name…is Penn Zero!"

He gave one last tug of the licorice, and handed Verge one end. The fairy took it, hoping the boy could hang on for a while. She took off after the rocket and started circling it. Cutelings from the inside gasped at what she was doing. Once the licorice was holding, she looked back down, praying this idea was working. Luckily, the rocket was stronger than the licorice. It helped Penn in pulling, and thanks to the fudge, the planet parts were now connected again.

Once the Cutelings saw this, they gasped, having a hard time believing the thing that destroyed their planet had now fixed it again, and they started cheering as they slid down the licorice and back to their Cuteling home. Penn let go of the other end of the licorice, and they all watched as the rocket blasted off into the other planet.

All the Cutelings gathered around Penn and Verge, as the two stood side by side as giants to the Cutelings. They grinned as they fist-bumped. "Thank you meanie giants for saving our planet!" a Cuteling said, hugging Penn's foot. "You're actually a nice giant!"

"Aw!" Verge said, squealing slightly as she crouched down to give them all a hug. "Anything for you little guys!"

Penn grinned as well. "Well, we're sorry for screwing it up in the first place, you little guy-girl-thing…" From below, Boone and Sashi grinned proudly at their friends.

There was a familiar blue light, and the quartet got zapped.

* * *

Once they arrived back on Earth, Penn and Verge somehow ended on the hero platform instead. From there, Phyllis was looking at them quite grimly again. Penn and Verge exchanged a look and frowned, not moving. While Boone and Sashi moved away, Penn cleared his throat. "Phyllis, I—uh, we're sorry for all the chaos we caused…"

"_Really sorry," _Verge added.

"We understand if you won't give us our jobs back."

Phyllis paused for a moment. "I understand you did it because you want your parents back."

Verge grinned. "Exactly."

Penn grinned as the two ran over. "Ah, thank you, thank you Phyllis! Boy, I tell you, it's good to be a part-time hero again! Hey, should we hug? Is it not too weird to hug? I feel like hugging."

"Zero—"

"You are still fired."

"_WHAT?!"_

Verge laughed. "Oh, boy…"

"I only said we'd understand you wouldn't give us our jobs back because I thought we were getting our jobs back!"

"Really, Zero? Is that how things work in life?"

"Well, assumingly."

They watched as Phyllis hung up a sign searching for a part-time hero, she slowly turned to the two, still talking. "But if you both want to apply for job, I…could not stop you."

When Penn and Verge exchanged a look for one last time, they both started to grin widely. "Thanks, Phyllis."

When the mechanic turned to them, she seemed to be even more serious than usual now. "I will _never_ stop searching for parents."

At those words, Penn and Verge had to smile.

* * *

After all the interviewing again, Penn and Verge both exited the Odyssey as Verge slipped her vest on. "Wow…today was pretty tough."

"I know," Penn laughed lightly. "Man, I can't believe greed got through to me twice…"

Verge laughed. "Nah, it's pretty believable."

"Haha, very funny." Verge grinned. "But hey…at least we learned one valuable lesson today, right? We're never repeating anything like this again."

The fairy laughed nervously and nodded. "Right…never again."

Verge was thinking. And when she thinks, most of the time she can't get it out of her mind. She really doesn't tell him anything.

* * *

**Wooo ok sup guys I edited this and now I can finally say YAY because the episode I've been wanting to publish for a while is finally up~~~! Sure hope you guys enjoyed it because I truly was in a rush haha**

**I've been re-reading some reviews and I realize that some people really like Penn and Verge's family love (TASOO I see you hehe) and some others actually ship Vergenn (Charr2003 this ship name tho xD) To be honest, I don't know how it's gonna end up! As you can see, I never let them call each other brother and sister but that's just to be safe .w. I admit at times I'll be writing a mix of both romantic and family love here, so you have been warned w**

**My life isn't exactly as sweet as Penn and Verge's tho... I just recently found out that this guy I like now likes someone else...I've never had a crush before, and I'm really hating this feeling. So. Much. You readers that keep liking and reading this fanfic are my inspiration to move on :') Writing is my key to a better life haha!**

**Buuut this isn't about meee! I just wanted once again all those fans that read this fic! My goal is to get as many favorites as possible, as you can see in the description hehe. Some are actually trying to spread the word about this fic! You dont have to do the same but if you do, it's really appreciated :) LillaDessert on DA drew her assumption on how Verge looks like and mentioned me w She's also the same Lilla that gave me the idea for Verge the Human. If you're reading this, Lilla, thanks again~! MusicMeisterLover is also going to be writing a PZ and Peter Pan crossover AU and she said she'll be putting Verge! I gave her my approval hehe you guys should read it once it's up~**

**That's all for now~! I hope you guys liked this chapter and I hope you'll stick around for the future ones~ seee yall in the next eps!**


	33. When Dragons Dare

**Episode 27: When Dragons Dare**

* * *

…**Whoops.**

**Looks like I miscalculated: the season finale is **_**not**_** near.**

**Haha…**

_**ANYWAYZ **_**looks like there's gonna be more special episodes to come! :D I might as well take the time to write Charr2003's request. It was supposedly reserved for something else, buuut I guess I can find a good idea for her plot :)**

**Also, I just recently watched a Penn Zero Sneak Peek video on YouTube. You guys have probably seen it. (what do you know, there's gonna be a caveman episode and animal episode after all xP) I just found the truth about how Penn and his friends met, so I sorta-kinda-little changed some parts in the prologue. The new one's been up for a while! Old readers can go ahead and check it out. There's not much to see though, more like I deleted and changed some scenes :)**

**Aaaand now, episode 27! Enjoy~**

* * *

Our favorite quartet team were just on their way to the Odyssey, like any normal day. Penn opened the door for his friends, a smile on his face. "Good afternoon, Phyllis."

Once they entered the area, they pondered at the many boxes surrounding them. Boone gaped at a little machine Phyllis had with her. "Whoaaa, you have hand-carven marionettes of yourself?"

"Of course," the mechanic replied. "They make wonderful gift."

"Creepy…" Verge resisted making a face as she picked one up.

Boone happily got it from her and started playing with it. The little wooden toy seemed to be making sounds too. _"You disappoint me. No time for fun. Yo coconut!"_

"And when do you ever say 'Yo coconut'?" Penn asked.

"Is catchphrase. Every hand-carven marionette has catchphrase."

"Oh, like…'Check the Specs' or 'I don't tell you everything'."

Verge looked at him with curiosity. "Who says that?" Everyone in the room took one second to just stare at her.

As Phyllis pressed a button, Boone was still laughing as the marionette went _"Yo coconut!" _again. A mechanical hand reached out and grabbed it before they went to their mission. "Hey!"

"Yo coconut."

He was screaming as they got zapped in.

* * *

"We're dragons!"

Penn scanned the new dimension they were in with awe, admiring how everyone here was what seemed to be a dragon-in-training. Different dragons in shapes and sizes were practicing their flying and fire-breathing, which had the hero expecting that this is what they would be doing sooner on.

"Oh yeah!" he cheered. "This mission. Is going. To _rock!"_

"Speak for yourself."

"Who said that?"

The three dragons looked around, only then realizing Verge wasn't with them. "Verge?" Boone called. "Great. Don't tell me we're about to hurt her again."

"Here."

This time, the fairy decided to go bigger before she could get swatted away. Only right now, in Dragon World, she wasn't a fairy. She practically was, though. Her scaly body was slim and long, golden with silver specks, which matched her thin tail. Her snout was pointed like a hawk's, and her talons and horns were sharp. She was wearing her clothes, the usual long-sleeved blue shirt and pointed red skirt get-up, but they didn't hide the fact that her wings were a strange, long-spanned papery yellow. At first glance, her friends could only think of one thing when they saw her.

"Dragonfly," Penn blurted out. He immediately regretted it when Verge glared at him and let out a puff of fire. He dodged it – barely – yelping slightly. "Hey!"

"At least I can control fire now," she huffed, crossing her dragon-like arms. "Repeat that word again, I snap your snouts off."

"Um…OK…Sashi, check the Specs."

The small dragon smirked as she did as asked. "All right. We're cadets, competing for the title of Top Dragon, at Wingfire Academy. Where dragons are trained in fire-breathing, and air-to-air combat."

"Sounds neat," Verge commented.

Suddenly, a pretty dragon walked up to Boone, smiling and pointing at him. "Looking good, Cupcake!"

Unfortunately, Boone took that as an offense. "Hey, who you calling Cupcake?!"

Penn and Verge exchanged a brief look. "Hey, Boone? Just take a look at the…" He lightly tapped the nametag on Boone's cadet jacket.

"…Oh, me, 'cause of the…" The dragon scoffed and walked off. "Thanks! Catch ya later." He inwardly cursed at the skies.

Sashi continued her description. "That makes me Condor and Penn is Renegade, who's destined to become Prime Minister and one day, save this world. But none of that will happen unless he's named Top Dragon."

"Now this is gonna be tough," Verge said, not helping her frown.

Penn chuckled. "Chill, Diverge. Sounds like a piece of cake for _Renegade." _He tried whipping his glasses off to look cool, but it only ended up hurting him. "Ah, wow, that is a bright sun." He quickly put his sunglasses back on.

Rolling her eyes, Verge went small again and pointed at the locker room, where all the dragons now seemed to be heading. "Come on, guys. Looks like the dragons are gathering." She fluttered over to Penn's shoulder, who hid her in his jacket-arm pocket.

Once all the dragons were seated, the general of the academy took her place at the podium. She cleared her throat before eyeing the students behind her sunglasses. "Cadets, I am General Talon. I will judge a head-to-head match-up between the top two cadets to determine who will be named Top Dragon." She whipped her glasses off, revealing the seriousness in her pink eyes. Verge fidgeted slightly. "Good luck to you all. Now, I will turn you over to Sergeant Instructor Mittens."

Immediately, the fairy recognized the "sergeant" as Rippen and Larry as his assistant. They saluted the General, who stepped aside for them. "Thank you, General Talon. Cadets, it's a true honor to train the best, and the brightest…and the best, and the—" Once the General was out the door and completely out of earshot, the sergeant seemed to relax. "OK, she's gone. Enough of that nonsense. I'm looking for a dragon capable of beating a Renegade."

When Penn heard that, he resisted the urge to scowl. Verge looked up at him, rather curiously. There couldn't be anyone better than him, could there?

"You want the best? You want Blaze."

Everyone suddenly turned back to the doors, where there seemed to be fog effects emanating, and opened to reveal a purple-scaled, blonde-haired dragon there. He was smiling, showing his perfect white fangs, as he stood in the way a model would. He took his sunglasses off, only to reveal another pair of glasses beneath them. All the other dragons instantly stopped, stared, gasped, and whispered in awe. Even the part-time heroes were in wonder of his presence. Verge merely blinked repeatedly. Rippen laughed, as if knowing immediately he was the dragon he needed.

"Whoooa," Boone gaped. "Even his sunglasses have sunglasses."

"How is that even possible?" the fairy whispered, mostly to herself, as knowing no one would even answer.

Blaze took his other glasses off, now revealing his pure brown eyes, and winked. Verge scoffed, just mustering a smile, but Sashi gave in completely. She sighed unattractively, and the fairy immediately noticed. Especially when the dragon passed by them and she was touching her cheeks. "Uh, what's wrong with my face?"

Penn squinted at her. "You're smiling. Why are you smiling?"

"Jealous much, Zero?" Verge teased from his pocket. He lightly flicked at her tiny dragon head.

"No. No, I am not."

"Fine, Blaze it is!" Rippen declared, announcing Penn's opponent. "Larry, give everyone else their grades and validate their parking."

As the orange dragon escorted everyone out the locker room, only the four dragons stayed. Verge flew out of the pocket, quickly going bigger size behind some chairs before standing at Penn's side. "Wow," Boone was saying. "Blaze _totally_ re-defines 'cool.' I forgot who I even _thought_ was cool before I laid eyes on him!"

Penn held his hands up. "Yeah, yeah, I will admit, he _is_ charming, but you know, it's a less-charming-than-me-in-every-single-possible-way kind of charming."

His fairy guide couldn't help sucking all this up. "Oh, Zero, there's nothing wrong about being a little green-eyed~ Especially with a little competition involved."

He rolled his eyes. "I am _not_ jealous, OK?"

Before he could say any more, the said dragon they were talking about walked up to them and shook Penn's hand as he handed him a piece of paper. "I just wanted to wish you luck, and give you this signed picture of Blaze, signing a picture of Blaze, and tell ya there's no shame in finishing a distant second." That only resulted in Penn crumpling the paper, glaring, and growling.

The dragonfly put a hand on his shoulder. "Easy there, Z—Renegade."

Rippen smirked as he came up to them. "To prepare for the Top Dragon Competition, you must complete the final training session."

Blaze smiled. "Blaze isn't so sure Renegade can handle it."

Penn instantly shot up from his seat. "Oh, I'll handle it. Yeah, I'll handle it like I'd handle something with a handle. Like a pot!"

There was almost complete silence from that poor comeback. Boone briefly shook his head in pity. Verge sighed as the others stood up from their chairs as well. "Let's just take this session over with," she announced. "Let's go, you two."

They all walked up to the final training session area, where Larry seemed to be waiting for them. It was taken place at what looked like a large canyon, littered with red and white targets. The assistant dragon waved a flag up from above and high platform, gesturing the two cadets to start climbing up there. Penn's friends sat, watched, and waited at the sidelines as they saw how this was gonna end up.

Renegade was the first to start. He unzipped the back of his cadet jacket, revealing his long green dragon wings. Once Larry gave the signal, he dove into the canyon, shooting flames at each target he passed. He made it over to the finish line without any faults. With that, his friends cheered loudly for him, while Rippen was not at all impressed.

Meanwhile, as the targets were being replaced blue targets, it was now Blaze's turn. Once they were set, he flew off, starting to aim and shoot flames. However, for some reason, every shot he made only ended up going upwards. It didn't hit any targets at all. When Blaze arrived at the finish line, Penn was laughing, believing he'd won. But when Blaze pointed up, everyone gasped in awe at the fire figure of Blaze above them. The figure just let out one puff of fire, and it was enough to hit _every _target, bouncing off and shooting them down, one after the after, before all the targets were in flames.

And all Penn could do was gape.

"Oh, boy," Verge murmured. She looked at Boone, who also glanced back worriedly. Only Sashi seemed to be the only one sighing and watching Blaze dreamily. Rippen was just smirking in pride and joy.

Later on, they all met back at the locker room. The two dragons-in-training stood before Rippen as he looked at them. "Based on your results, I think we all know that it won't be long until fate decides who becomes Top Dragon," he announced. "I think we all know who that's going to be."

"Yeah," Penn scowled. _"Me."_

"Blaze would contradict," the purple dragon said. "But Blaze should probably be going." He smiled as he started to leave the locker room, with a scowling Penn following him out. Boone and Verge looked up from their conversation when they saw the two.

Penn shook a pointed talon at his opponent. "We'll settle this once and for all tomorrow in the finals."

"Are the finals tomorrow? Blaze had completely forgotten."

The green dragon was fuming as his two friends walked up to either side of him. "That guy needs to learn he's not as great as everyone thinks he is!"

Verge sighed. "Zero, you're taking this way too seriously. No, wait, that's not the word…you're thinking too much, that's what I know."

"You should probably just focus on the mission at hand," Boone suggested. "Because you're not gonna out-cool _that _guy."

"Especially when it's a guy who has a Sashi following him," Verge said, pointing. Sashi was indeed stalking Blaze from behind a tree she was carrying around with her. She sighed dreamily as Blaze flipped his hair. It mustn't have been an illusion when live birds came flying out of it, because that only caused her to swoon more. When Blaze turned around, she quickly hid behind the tree again. "…Yep. Anyone with a Sashi following him is definitely a level beyond coolness."

Penn wasn't amused. "Why is it so good to have _birds_ in your hair? That's unsanitary! Seriously, I ought to give Blaze a taste of his own medicine one day. I can't wait to rub it in his face when _I_ become Top Dragon tomorrow."

"Zero!" Verge practically shouted. "You're stressing yourself too much. Tell you what!" She flew over, quickly grabbed Sashi (much to the dragon's complaints), and threw her arms over her three friends' shoulders. "What's say all four of us go celebrate that successful training session over at the The Officer's Club!" She pointed over at a large billboard that said "Karaoke Competition Tonight!" At first glance, the team smiled simultaneously.

"You're right, Verge," Penn agreed, tiny fist-bumping with her. "We could all use a break."

So that's what they did. Later that night, the four found seats at the club and settled in. There were lots of noisy, happy dragons drinking, talking, and singing, creating as much room noise as possible. Verge grew smaller as she sat on the table in between Penn and Boone. She had informed Sashi of a dart board, just in their area. This caused the violent dragon to get all hyped; too hyped in fact to the point where Sashi started setting a dart on fire for extra points. The entire board exploded in flames.

"Thanks a lot, Sash," Verge grumbled. "Now I'll never get my turn."

Her friend chuckled, taking another dart. "Ah, I'm sure we can find something else."

Suddenly, someone just got onto the stage, ready to sing a song. It was Blaze. "This one's going out from a Blaze to a Condor."

At her mission name, Sashi gasped and blindly let the dart fly as she looked at Blaze's direction. Her friends gasped too. "My I!"

Verge whirled to the dragon that shouted that, actually seeing her holding a figure of the letter I. The fairy thought Sashi would apologize – or not, at least a little smirk or something – but the dragon's attention was directly towards the one on the stage now.

A spotlight flashed on Blaze, and he started to sing:

"_~You gotta race to the top  
__You gotta go past the medal  
_'_Cause the medal's not the place to stop~"_

Sashi was hypnotized by his voice, as she unconsciously made her way up to the stage. Penn frantically tried pulling and pushing her back, but one little Penn wasn't enough to stop a Sashi.

"This one's a sax solo."

Even Boone and Verge had to sway together at the beat of the music. Sashi smiled that dreamy-like smile she had been smiling for hours. The part-time hero on the floor could only watch as his friend fell for his opponent's charming actions.

"_~It's like I said from the start  
__Trying is only a part  
__Gotta race it all the way to the top~!"_

When the song ended, everyone cheered and clapped. Verge had to scoff a little. "And I thought she hearted Teddy." Boone scoffed as well as they neared the stage.

When Blaze got off the stage, Sashi couldn't help but follow him out. Penn frowned at that. To make things worse, Rippen decided to do some taunting. "Now, _that's_ what they call a show-stopper. _Nobody _can top that!"

"Nobody?" Of course, Penn had to fall for it. He stood atop a table, looking very angry now. "Now for the main act!"

As he jumped off, Boone and Verge immediately knew something was about to happen as they went and stopped him. "What are you doing? This is the part where I get everybody hyped."

"Look, Penn, you know I don't like being the voice of reason, but I think your jealousy of the Blaze-meister is going to get you in trouble."

Annoyed, the hero only pushed his friend off. "Back off, Cupcake! _I'm not jealous, _OK? I just want everyone to stop looking at him, and start paying attention to _me."_

"Zero, he's right!" Verge said, flying in front of his face. "You gotta cool off! Remember what you said about how you can't turn everything into a competition?"

"This isn't Hue Town, Verge. Fly aside." With a wave of his hand, the small gust got caught in Verge's wings, causing her to fly off into Boone's open hands. Not even noticing the fact he almost swept her away, Penn got up on the stage and grabbed the mic.

"All right! Song Number One. Of ten!"

The moment the music started, Boone and Verge stared sadly at their friend and at each other. The Wiseman dragon shook his head pitifully.

Penn's singing continued on for about two hours. He was singing so hard and so loud, by the tenth song, his voice was starting to falter. Of course, he didn't notice until the marathon finally ended. "Ten songs!" he choked out. "Yeah!"

It was only then he noticed the entire club abandoned him. And then he started to notice the truth. "My voice is gone." He grabbed at his throat in horror.

"Oh, no," Verge said quietly, eyes widening.

In the darkness, there was a low chuckle. Out from it emerged a smirking Rippen. He looked even more prideful than ever. "Sore throat? Shame. It's going to be very difficult to breathe fire at the competition tomorrow."

"You tricked me!" Penn croaked. He started coughing, but there were no flames. Only sparks.

This only made Rippen smile more. "I'd say bad luck, but looks like you've already got it." With a final laugh, he left the club.

"What good are a Wiseman and Fairy Guide's words if the Hero won't ever listen?" Boone mumbled.

"I know right?" Verge sighed, growing bigger. "OK, come on, Zero. We need to get you to your dorm. You need lots of rest now."

"But the competition—"

"—is tomorrow and you need sleep. I'll try finding a cure in time."

"And if not?"

Verge decided not to answer that.

* * *

Technically, there weren't any proper cures for sore throats other than constant resting. The next day, Penn's throat was still hurting, but as he and Boone sat on a bench, Verge met up with them, bringing a push tray. "I brought everything one would need for helping a sore throat," she explained, preparing some hot tea. She turned smaller and wrapped a baby blue scarf around Penn's neck. "I suggest you try not using your voice too much. That would increase the harshness in your vocal chords. Or something like that, I was too frantic to keep reading the Internet articles."

"Thanks Verge," Penn managed, holding out a cup. Boone poured him some tea, and he blew on it before drinking. As he blew on the second serving, he then noticed a certain lovesick dragon coming up to them.

"Well, if it isn't Mrs. Sashi Blaze," Penn scowled, ripping the scarf off.

Sashi only giggled. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you choosing your new boyfriend over me!"

"Lay her off, Zero," Verge almost snapped. "This isn't her fault."

"_Thank you, _Verge," Sashi said, scoffing. "I didn't choose anyone over you! I can have friends too!" She then went back to love mode and placed a hand over her heart as she walked off again. "He can make live birds fly out of his hair."

Angered once again, Penn stood up as he glared from behind. "Live birds? Is that what you need? You want a little bit of this?" When Penn shook his head, the only thing that came out of his hair were centipedes and wasps. His eyes widened as they returned. Boone only shook his head at him pitifully again.

Verge sighed, rubbing her temples. "This is getting us nowhere…" She grew bigger again and exhaled before placing a hand on Penn's shoulder. "Look, Zero, it was funny at first, but now this jealousy is getting out of hand."

"I'm not—"

"Save it. You're gonna have to realize later on that winning _alone_ isn't everything. You _know_ that. You need to learn that things are not always as they seem."

Penn only frowned at her words. "Out of all the guidance lessons you've taught, this is probably the most confusing. Now, I _need_ to win for us to complete the mission. I _have_ to beat Blaze." He coughed again, taking one last sip of tea. "Now, come on. My throat may still be sore, but I have a competition to prevail."

As he walked ahead, Boone and Verge looked at each other nervously.

Later on, they had finally gathered at the competition area. Every dragon was cheering for either Blaze or Renegade. The two dragons were already at their platforms, ready to get started any moment. The three heroes sat in the sidelines, waiting anxiously as they awaited the final moment.

"Welcome to the finals!" General Talon greeted. "The first to scorch all three of his opponent's targets and fly to the finish ring will graduate Top Dragon!"

"I hope this ends well," Verge prayed. Her two friends nodded.

"On your marks…get set…_FLY!"  
_

The two took off into the sky. Blaze was the first to scorch a Penn target from a distance. Shortly afterwards, Penn shot a Blaze one as he jumped onto the dragon's back. Then, there was little chase. Blaze shot a blind flame, which landed right before Penn. He got caught up in it, sending the second Penn target on fire. Angered, the hero now chased after Blaze. Verge watched, just fidgeting in nervousness, before suddenly noticing something was above them. Before she could tell what it is, a flame shot out in between the two dragons, causing Penn to scream out. He looked up to see Sergeant Instructor Mittens.

"Did I forget to mention," Verge heard. "That as Instructor, I'll be making sure everything's fair. But only for Blaze." He prepared a second blast of fire.

"_NO!"_

Before Verge could shrink and fly over, Blaze flew in and took the damage for himself. This caused the second Blaze target to die down. It also caused his wings to break. Everyone gasped as they watched Blaze fall, straight into a boiling hot volcano, while Renegade was debating with himself if he should go after him…or the finish ring.

_You're gonna have to realize later on that winning _alone_ isn't everything._

"_Zero! Just get him already!"_

Finally coming to his senses, Penn swooped down towards the volcano, immediately catching Blaze in the process. As they flew out of it, Blaze sat atop Penn as they finally got on the deal that they should work together. With both dragons in truce, Verge flew up to Penn, making sure they were OK. He smiled, silently thanking her once again.

Suddenly, there was another blast from Rippen behind them. He was gaining up on them, as they gradually reached the finish ring. Verge tried shooting her water balls at his direction, but the Instructor merely dodged them. He only laughed, as he shot another blast. This time, they had to turn around and fly towards him to dodge it. With them right in front of them, Rippen saw the opportunity to shoot his biggest blast. But as Penn flew to the side, Verge used her water to completely block the fire, causing a distraction. And when Rippen didn't know this, Penn snuck up as Blaze shot fire at him.

Rippen's wings burnt down and turned to ashes. He was screaming as he started to fall out of the sky.

"_Yeah!" _They all cheered once they'd gone through the ring and landed back onto the ground safely. As Verge grew bigger, she quickly gave Penn a victory hug as she smiled proudly at him.

"Way to go, guys!" she cheered.

Blaze smiled at her. "The dragonfly wasn't so bad either. Even if it meant getting in danger, the dragonfly still fought with and for Blaze and Renegade. Therefore, Blaze thanks the dragonfly."

"Hey, don't call me a—" Her voice faltered as she hesitated a bit. "You know what? I'm just glad you guys were able to pull through." Penn rolled his eyes at this.

But it wasn't over yet. The dragonfly wasn't the only one all-prideful at the moment. "For the first time in the storied history of Wingfire Academy," General Talon started, grinning. "We have _two_ Top Dragons!" Everyone cheered at that. Using her fire, she split the big golden trophy she held in half, and gave a half to each one. Blaze smiled at Penn.

"Renegade pushed Blaze to Blaze's limit. On behalf of Blaze, Blaze thanks Renegade."

"Well, Blaze pushed Renegade to his limits too."

"And Verge has no idea what's going on!" The fairy dragonfly just jumped in between them and threw her arms over their shoulders. Penn laughed at her antics. Blaze was confused at first, but he laughed with them anyway.

Later on, Sashi and Boone reunited with them. It was almost time for the quartet to zap back, but they decided they should go for one last flight as a five. Fortunately, Blaze's wings healed a little while later after a little medical work. Now, Sashi stood before Blaze, as he took a bird from his hair and handed it to her. She took the gift happily. Boone was smiling nervously as he spread his arms out for a hug. The purple dragon shrugged at this and hugged back anyway. As night slowly came upon them, and the fireworks started to shoot up. The five looked at each other, slowly grinning when they knew it was time.

They spread their wings, and together they simultaneously soared, high in the night sky.

* * *

**The next episode should be out a little while later~ or longer, since I have a **_**ton **_**of homework to deal with. But enjoy this chapter while you can~ :)**

**OH GUYS I forgot to mention! MusicMeisterLover actually made a fanfic out of my fanfic! It's a Penn Zero and Peter Pan crossover fic! You can find it in the Favorites: Works of My Works folder of my deviantart account :D It was a really good plot, and I'm mentioning her bc she's awesome HAHA xD Enjoy~!**


	34. Rip-penn

**Episode 28: Rip-penn**

* * *

**I admit, when I first read this episode's title card, I thought it was yaoi HAHAHA xD Just wishful thinking xP**

**One more shout-out to MusicMeisterLover! If you've seen in the last chapter, she wrote a Penn Zero x Peter Pan crossover with Verge in it! Find her on my Favorites: Works of My Works folder at my deviantart account :) **

**I'm not gonna put an authors' note at the end because I loved the ending for this episode xD Buuut I'll see you all when I write the next one~ Wish me luck on my studies, guys, I seriously need it :( And with better grades, faster updates~ At least, faster updates until the next episode comes out :D**

**Anywayzz~ Enjoy~**

* * *

Today, Verge was having her daily flight. She woke up early today, just to zoom around the city a little bit, before heading over to the Odyssey and prove that she could be a responsible employee.

Boone beat her to it.

As she entered the MUT area, the fairy was surprised when she found Phyllis in a jury's wig and Boone trying to draw. She frowned as she fluttered over, circling the boy's flipchart. "What's all this about?" she questioned. At the moment, she was pondering how the dust he could misspell his own name…

"This, my dear winged friend, is genius," Boone replied proudly. "They're my birthday party ideas! Phyllis suggested we start talking about it."

"She _suggested_ we have some kind of meeting about your birthday?"

"Well, we decided to clear the air around here a bit and the topic of birthdays seemed like the perfect fit." He smirked. "And since no one else was around to call first dibs, I stepped in for the job."

"It improves workplace atmospheres," Phyllis called out from above.

Verge resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Sure, Boone. I'm sure Zero and Sashi would love to talk about that."

"Talk about what?"

As if on cue, the said remaining teammates came right in, ready for their new mission. Like Verge, they stopped and stood curious at what their mechanic and Wiseman were doing. Penn frowned as he saw Boone setting the flipchart and carrying a large stack of papers and books.

"What are those?"

"Stuff," Verge said bluntly. Sashi only scoffed.

"We are about to start meeting," Phyllis called. "Everyone take their seats."

The fairy flew over and set two chairs on the MUT platform. Still confused, the part-time hero and sidekick went and sat down.

"What's going on?"

"Please, Mr. Zero," Boone said, smiling calmly. "When one is talking, two must be quiet. Now, let's first talk about the importance of this meeting. A birthday is one of the most important days of a person's life. It is essential for one to celebrate this special day of theirs, even if it means having to plan ahead. And preparing for a birthday involves delicate procedure, and careful arrangements. Therefore, we have conducted this meeting to speak about what there is to look forward to in this upcoming event, as we all know, as I have just said—"

"_UGH! Come ON!"_

Everyone turned to Penn, surprised at his outburst. He seemed to get a gist of all that, and just started to lose his patience. Verge frowned down at him as she sat cross-legged in the air. No one said a word as Boone just continued.

"I propose the following amendments to Boone's birthday celebration!" He flipped the first page and pointed with the pointer he held. "Sub-point A! The cake shall be baked in the shape of a life-sized Boone!"

"Boone's birthday is eight months away!" Penn protested. "Can't we just zap—"

He was interrupted by the sound of Phyllis' gavel. "Quiet! Boone has the floor."

The boy grinned and continued. "Sub-point B. Cake Boone should be a flattering representation of Real Boone, but not outshine Real Boone—"

"Ohhh, let's just get to the mission, please!"

"Zero, you have to calm down," Verge said softly.

"Calm down? You think I can calm down?!"

Phyllis banged her gavel again. "Staff meetings improve workplace atmospheres."

Penn held his hands up. "Fine. Then may _I _share an idea to improve the workplace atmosphere_s?"_

Phyllis only blinked at him.

"Thank you." He cleared his throat. "I think—"

"Time's up! Meeting adjourned!"

"_Seriously?!"_

* * *

The first thing Sashi did when she got into the dimension was check the Specs immediately. They seemed to be telling her about an important part of the mission, and her eyes widened slightly when she understood its instructions. Verge noticed this, and tried asking. But before she could say anything or have Penn know about it, the part-time hero was seen drinking a strange green liquid from a test tube. "Hmm. Not sure what this is, but toss in a lemon wedge and we might have something here."

"It's poison."

Penn instantly spit out the rest of the poison contents, staring at Sashi in horror. _"What?! _Poison?!"

"Oh, boy," Verge said, going bigger. She was in a blue and red vintage dress that reached up to her ankles. The edges were slightly cut, just like her normal clothes. But for once, she didn't at all complain about how she looked at the moment.

As the redhead threw the test tube away, Sashi continued to explain. "You're Doctor Barzelby, and you've just tested the potion on yourself. But something went horribly wrong. The formula for the cure can be found in these notes. But if we fail to make the antidote by midnight, you'll never recover."

Penn gaped in horror as he then heard the grandfather clock gong. It was ten o'clock now. "Recover from what?"

"Has anyone seen the little boys' room?" Boone interrupted, jumping around. Verge stared at him, confused at why he was some kind of maid. But then again, this isn't the first time something like this happened. "Actually, little girls' room. _Not_ little girls' room, definitely o-old ladies' ro—No. Has anyone seen the room?"

"Boone, can we please just focus on what's gonna happen to me in two hours if we fail?"

"Guys, wait," Verge said, raising a finger to shush him. "Did you hear that?"

There seemed to be something in the ceiling. A loud rumbling sounded out through the room, gradually getting louder as it neared the chimney. And just then, a figure of black shot out of it, crash-landing onto the table with a gasp, and facing the heroes. Everyone stared at a coal-dusted Larry.

"Hey guys—" He sneezed, causing a black cloud. "'Scuse me. Sorry. Um, Rippen isn't with you is he?"

All Penn could do was get annoyed and glare. "I'm sorry, Rippen's missing? Oh no! Well, I have to find a cure by _midnight_, otherwise I'll probably die from _poison_, but yeah, ah, I'd _love _to help you find the one guy in the universe who wants desperately to see me _fail. _That would be a dream of mine! Where should we start looking?! The library or the foyer?! _Where, Larry?!"_

"Ay-yiy-yiy," Verge mumbled.

Larry actually hesitated at that. "Mmm…I'd start with the foyer. Is it foyay or foyerr. You know, look in both."

The look on Penn's face was in complete infuriation. "Both…?!"

Suddenly, something happened. His face started to distort a bit, causing Penn to grab it. He was recoiling in pain, turning on his friends as he shouted out. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!"

"Zero?!" Verge tried flying over to help, but she stopped in her tracks when Penn started to get bigger. Other than that, his body was a sickly white. He slowly started to grow out of his blue suit, until his body was now replaced with those of a troll-like one's. Everyone stared and gasped as Penn turned around, revealing to have his face and arms be the only parts normal.

But then his right arm started to distort, becoming as big as the body and revealing danger-sharp claws. Penn's face showed a hint of shock before it started to distort and turn into someone else's. And this was a face we all knew as it smiled at everyone evilly.

"What the dust."

"Ew!"

"Rippen!"

Just figure out who said those.

"What…" Sashi tried saying, but faltered.

"Hang on, buddy!" Larry got off the table and dashed into closet. He started rummaging through its contents, searching for clothes and taking some out one by one. The heroes and the part-time villain could only stand in silence.

"Sorry, uh, it's the only thing I could find that would fit," Larry said, as he was sitting down on a chair now. He somehow managed to get Rippen into some pink bloomers (which was in the Doctor's closet, much to Verge's confusion).

Rippen frowned at himself. "But why must I carry this parasol?"

"Because it's darling!" Now, Larry could check the Specs for their own mission. "When the good Doctor Barzelby gets impatient, it brings out his inner monster. That's you."

"Hey, let's just be glad it isn't Sashi," Verge put in.

The sidekick raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean."

"Oh, you know what I mean. Anger runs in this quartet. Well, perhaps a half of this quartet."

As if to show off, Rippen hummed as he crumpled the parasol like paper and threw it away. "Then I'm here to stay. Impatience is my foe's greatest weakness!"

"No," Boone intervened. "His greatest weakness is, he's crazy afraid of sock puppets!"

"Nice," Larry commented.

There was a bit of awkward silence, and Verge hit Boone on the head, whispering at him through gritted teeth. "That was supposed to be a private topic."

"OK, if Penn doesn't get the cure by midnight, he'll be a You-monster forever. Meanwhile, we have to make more of the potion, pour it into the reservoir and turn the entire city into monsters. Just like you handsome." The whole thought made Rippen grin.

"Not so fast, Rip," Verge cut in, turning small and flying forward. "If you even think of succeeding in this mission, better think again."

Sashi nodded. "Right. It's not gonna happen, Rippen."

_This_ thought made him smile too. "What? You think you two common sidekicks can stop _me?"_

"Technically, I'm a fairy guide. Big difference."

It only made the villain laugh. But at that very moment, his face started to distort all over again. After some shrinking and changing, in Rippen's place was now a gasping Penn. His eyes were wide as he shivered in the cold and disgust. His friends stared and gaped, not sure if this was a good thing.

"Zero!" Verge managed. "Good to…see you?"

"Oh my lawn," Larry said, eyes slightly widened. "Looks like laughing turns you back to Penn."

Verge quickly turned to the closet and brought some clothes out for her friend. "Here."

He took them gratefully and went behind the cover, quickly walking and changing as he fully returned to normal. Now he was ready to start the mission. "OK. When I was Rippen, I could hear everything. That means, he can hear us now. I might jeopardize the mission. You guys go and gather what we need before midnight without me." Sashi nodded briefly, ready to leave.

"I'm staying with you," Verge announced.

But once again, Penn stopped her. "No. You could be in danger too. If I lose it, and Rippen gets you…" He sighed. "Just stop being stubborn and go with Boone and Sashi."

"_I'm _stubborn? Zero—" Verge's voice also faltered when she saw the look in his eyes. They were running out of time. Just standing here arguing about it wasn't going to complete the mission. When Penn looked at her, she could only see desperation. "…OK."

She and Sashi then took off with the Doctor's notebook, now ready. Boone followed shortly after asking Penn a question.

It was now 10:15pm. Outside, Verge was scanning the notebook, muttering words of "We have this, we got that…" as Sashi was able to hail a carriage.

"Who let the fog machine running?" Boone questioned as they got inside.

The driver looked down at him, the fog covering whatever expression he held. "'Tis nothing! It's an exceptionally clear night. Why, earlier, I saw me hand in front of me face, I did."

"You talk funny," Verge commented. As she turned smaller and handed the book to Sashi, she pointed at a certain item in the pages. The part-time sidekick nodded, also reading.

"We're only missing one ingredient for the cure!" Sashi announced. "Dan…de…cry—"

"It's Dandichryslemunthumumum," Boone explained. Verge only stared at him.

"Dandicrawcasamonthumum?"

The driver opened the sliding peephole and joined them. "A rare plant that is. In fact, the only one in all of London town is at the Royal British Greenhouse museum."

"Then that's where we're going," Verge announced, as they started off. "My only question is, why didn't we just use my fairy dust?"

Boone grinned. "Sure flying is fun, but wouldn't you like to ride a carriage pulled by a horse for once in your life?"

"No. It hurts the horse."

"….Off to the museum!"

Once they arrived, Verge tipped the driver and instructed him to just wait until they came back out. The three of them quietly sneaked behind some bushes in front of the gate entrance, careful not to make any noise. Their heads poked out from behind, as they squinted from behind the fence. "I wasn't expecting security cameras," Sashi said.

Those "security cameras" only ended up being very skilled monkeys that can draw every detail of whatever they saw. Verge smiled. Her area of expertise was calling out to her. She looked around for a distraction and grinned as she poked Sashi and pointed upwards. They both smirked at each other as they saw the bunch of bananas.

Verge easily took it down and took one banana off it. She grew bigger, waving the banana back and forth. "Ooh, ooh, ooh!" she hooted.

Instantly, that caught all the monkeys' attention. They first opened the gate, which helped Boone and Sashi to sneak in. As the monkeys hooted as well, ready to jump for the banana, Verge made sure her friends were in before she tossed the banana farther away. The little apes immediately dashed for it as Verge then followed the other two inside.

They all met at the exact location of the antidote ingredient. "There it is! The Dandecridandesdongle!"

Boone merely chuckled as he took the plant. "Heh, no Sash, it's a Dandichryslemunthumumum."\

"Seriously!" Verge interrupted. "How do you know that?"

"I don't tell you everything~"

_"My_ line, people! _My line."_

"Monkey!" Sashi gasped.

One of the little security cameras had returned, and had started recording what he saw. It was too late to be bribed now as he shot the scene into a tube. "Go, go!" Verge commanded, as they started to run. An alarm sound started echoing throughout the building.

The three frantically ran out, tossing themselves back into the carriage. Verge flew outside and behind the horse, slapping its behind to get it to wake up. It certainly worked. The horse shrieked, bucking on its hind legs, and started dashing off. The driver, who'd gotten woken up by his horse, quickly took the reins as he kept his eyes on the road. "Whoa! Easy there!"

Verge flew back into the carriage, as she and her friends cheered. "That was a close one!" she laughed.

"Really gets your heart racing," Boone agreed.

Sashi had to smirk. "Well, now you know how I feel."

"Too bad Penn wasn't with us…"

This caused the carriage to quiet.

Their fairy guide managed a smile as she patted the two's shoulders. "Hey. Let's just finish this mission. For him."

With that, they smiled.

They arrived back at the Doctor's house. Verge grew bigger and paid the driver, as they hurriedly went back inside. They burst into the experiment room, only ending up gasping when they saw Rippen in his monster form instead of their friend. The part-time villain grinned evilly at them. "You're too late! We made enough serum to turn the _entire—"_

"Boone," Verge said simply before that. The boy understood immediately as he set the plant down and walked over to Rippen, quickly setting his foot on a stool as he tickled it with a feather duster.

"Coochie, coochie, coo~!"

Rippen instantly laughed, which then caused him to turn back to Penn. Verge had to sigh in relief. "Good. You're back."

She already had clothes prepared for him, as Penn went through the process of changing quickly again. Which, much to everyone's confusion, still had them all wondering how he did that.

"Hurry!" Penn said. "We have a serum to mix!"

Verge took Penn's chin and turned his face to make him look into her serious blue eyes. "Zero, I love you, so you have to listen to me. _Calm. The dust. Down." _She released, making the boy confused.

Sashi nodded. "You gotta keep your cool, PZ."

"You wanna know how _I_ keep my cool?" They all turned to the end of the table, where Larry seemed to have wanted to join their side now. Or at least just annoy them with another story. "I start with an oatmeal foot bath!"

"Boone," Sashi said, in the same tone Verge had used. Again, the Wiseman understood.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. On it!" He then pulled Larry aside, as they walked in a different direction and out the room. "Please. Go on."

"Man, that guy can talk," Verge muttered once they were out of sight. "But nooow…"

The three looked at each other and nodded.

They each separated into stations. Verge was in charge of picking the petals out from the plant one by one, which wasn't exactly hard for that garden fairy side of her. Penn went ahead and started boiling some test tubes. Once they were both done, Verge announced the first step.

"You have to crush all the petals." She then handed him a mortar, pestle, and one of the plant's petals.

Penn examined the red object in his hand. "Sounds easy enough."

As he crushed it for a few seconds and spilled the contents onto the table, he smiled, actually feeling proud. But Sashi only frowned as she showed him the bowl full of the rest.

Penn turned to Rippen again.

Rippen shook his head from confusion, but Verge held him down. "You're not going anywhere!"

"What are you doing? Get off!"

He tried swatting the larger-sized, buzzing fairy, but only failed as usual. From there, Verge saw something on a chair and quickly gestured at Sashi to get it. She was confused, but her eyes lit up when she realized what it was.

As Rippen shouted at Verge, they then both stopped when they noticed the part-time sidekick performing a little puppet show. Surprisingly, they looked just like Penn and Rippen, and Sashi was making the puppet villain beat the puppet hero up with a bat. This caused Rippen to laugh, which then caused Penn to return to normal. Sashi smirked, as if knowing that would work.

"I wonder what those puppets were doing there," Verge wondered after Penn changed again.

"Let's not question it," he advised.

They then started crushing the petals again. It didn't take long, and later after, they were able to turn them into two separate bottles of liquid. At 11:46, he had to pour exactly ten milliliters into one test tube, and Penn needed one more milliliter. However, that one drop wouldn't cooperate, and wouldn't come out of the dropper. Once again, Penn got seriously annoyed as he turned into Rippen again. By then, the villain had an annoyed look on his face as well.

"Is he _trying _to make this easy?"

"Most likely," Verge sighed, as she rummaged through an Anatomy book. Sashi peered through with her.

"What are you doing?"

"Just stay there." Sashi pointed at a certain illustration in the page. Verge grinned, as she read the words "Funny Bone."

She handed Sashi one of those little hammers to use as they walked up to Rippen. Sashi looked at the picture again, making sure she was aiming in the right location, before lightly hitting it on the elbow. Rippen laughed again, and Penn changed back. He had the same expression Rippen had from before.

"This is really getting old," Sashi said, after Penn changed.

"Almost there, guys," Verge encouraged. "Just a few more steps."

And she was right. They were just minutes before they were fully done, and Boone and Larry had returned again. "Things looking up?"

"So far," Verge smiled, feeling confident.

At around 11:58, Sashi poured the final mix into the antidote. "We have to wait for it to boil," she instructed.

Penn smiled, but then his eyes slowly darted to the grandfather clock above. To him, it was like time was speeding up. "Zero…" Verge warned.

"Can you keep it together, PZ?"

"Hah, yeah, yeah. I'm good, haha…I mean, I have two whole minutes before…_come on, boil already!"_

Too late. Penn turned to Rippen again.

"Oh, dust," Verge muttered.

As the antidote boiled, a sudden ringing was then heard. Rippen was confused, having found the source from the belt of his pants. It was Penn's MUHU, and his parents were calling. Verge tried snatching the MUHU back, but Rippen blocked her with one hand. Even in her bigger form, Rippen still had a bigger advantage. Smiling evilly, he set the MUHU down on the table and answered.

"Brock! Vonnie!" Verge called out, backing up and standing by Sashi.

"Verge?" Brock Zero frowned, utterly confused.

"Well, well, well," Rippen said. "You're just in time to watch me eradicate your son!"

"Rippen," Vonnie squinted her eyes at the villain. "What have you done with Penn?"

"That _is_ Penn!" Sashi cried. "He turns into Rippen whenever he loses his cool!"

"And Rippen turns into Penn whenever he laughs," Boone added.

Verge nodded. "It's a very complicated process!"

The two adults looked at each other. Verge knew that look. It's the same look she and Penn shared whenever they had a silent conversation. "Sweetie," Vonnie started. "I know being patient can be tough."

"Our family has a history of being adrenaline junkies," Brock agreed. "Even today, I find it hard to sit still!"

"We know it's hard to be calm when the fate of the world hangs on the balance. But learning to calm down is an essential part of being a hero!"

"Well all need you back, Penn, so…dig deep, buddy."

Verge had to smile at their words. Only a parent can get through to their child. When she saw Rippen's face distort into Penn's for a few seconds, she had to have hope. "Mom, Dad—" he tried.

But Rippen took control again. He only laughed as his face returned to his. "Ha! Foolish Zeros. You know me too well to know I'd be so easily defeated."

"Seriously?" Verge said blankly. "Because I think that's what we've all been thinking…" That received a glare from the monster.

Vonnie turned to her husband, as if she was on the verge of tears. "Brock! Do something! We have to save Penn!"

As the blonde took his wife into his arms, he frowned as well. "Honey, there's nothing we can do. Rippen defeated us, and now he's…defeated…our son!"

A single tear dropped from his eye, as the grown man started crying. When everyone saw this, they all immediately caught on, as the girls looked at each other and smirked.

"I see what you're doing," Rippen said, still grinning. "I enjoy tears of misery, but it's not going to work!"

"Goodbye forever, PZ!" The monster turned to the floor, suddenly seeing Sashi on her knees as she sobbed.

Verge was in the act, her face flat on the floor as her wings just drooped over her back. "He was my best friend!" her voice muffled out. "We've known each other for six years! Now, he shall be gone! Did I mention he was my best friend?"

Even Boone started to water. "I never found the bathroom, and I really really have to go!"

Rippen tried looking away, but a smile was creeping up on his lips. "Don't…!"

The clock was gonging. Just one more minute left for Rippen and he'd win. But what Verge found very amusing was that the villain's minion even joined the waterworks. "This reminds me of the time I was at an all-night Cry-a-thalon Charity Event for kitties without whiskers! Those poor! Whiskerless! Kitties!"

"Mmm…!" Rippen shut his eyes, but it wasn't working. "I beg you, Larry! Oh, turn that frown upside down! Gggg!"

Too late. Rippen burst into utter laughter, but it didn't last long. Penn was returned to normal, for the final time, and Verge was glad. But this was no time for celebration. Not yet at least.

"_Hurry, Penn!"_

After one final change, Penn walked up to Verge, who had now poured in a glass of the antidote. He took it gratefully, a surprisingly calm smile on his face as he tugged his jacket. "All in good time, friends! No need to lose our heads, we have three seconds to spare. One…two…go."

He drank the antidote.

* * *

Penn got zapped back with everyone else, all safe and sound. Verge, now small, flew down and sat on his shoulder, as they celebrated with a tiny fist bump.

"OK, everybody," Penn announced, his back slumped in relief. "From now on, you're gonna see a cool, calm—"

The sound of a banging gavel interrupted him. Phyllis stood above, still in her judge get-up. "Good." She brought out a really thick book and flipped to a random page. "Let us discuss Phyllis birthday."

"Oh, dust," Verge said.

"_YOU GOTTA BE—"_


	35. Chuckle City 500

**Episode 29: Chuckle City 500**

* * *

**Oh dear. I missed four episodes.**

**Don't worry readers! The main Ridaa is here with some extra writing time to make at least one chapter! I have to say, though, I'd have to skip the usual special episode after episode 30, because I don't have time to outline it all out. I will make it for sure though! I promised MusicMeisterLover I'd use her idea (winkwink) and I promised Charr2003 that PenAshi request. Spoiler alert: These ideas will be two of the same request X3**

**Sooooo let's hop aboard the OC train, cuz Conductor Verge is taking ya'll to the Episode29 station in Middleburg!**

* * *

"You all right, Verge?"

The quartet was on their way to the Odyssey, once again returning from school…but one of their members seemed to _not_ be quite like themselves today. Our favorite fairy was walking, wearing the usual red vest, as she just kept staring at the ground with a frown on her face. She'd been like that since school ended, and now her friends were getting worried.

"Is your vest on too tight?" Boone piped up. Verge didn't answer.

"Vergie. What's wrong?" Sashi said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

The brown-haired girl shook her head and placed a hand over her heart. "I…just feel like…someone hasn't seen me in a while."

At those words, the remaining three exchanged extremely confused looks. "What are you talking about?" Penn asked. "You see us everyday."

"Not you…I feel like it's even more than just someone else…like special people from another dimension…"

Now they were weirded out.

"Okaaaaay? You should've stuck to 'I don't tell you everything'. Maybe we can find out about what you're thinking on our next mission!"

The three hastily made their way inside the abandoned cinema as Verge finally shook out of it.

Penn noticed the Hall as he entered, and his bright cyan eyes lit up when he saw the framed pictures of their past missions on the shelf. He just took the time to stand back and gaze up at their achievements. "You know, we have the best jobs in the world. Not only do we fight for good, but we get showered with glory."

His friends peered over to take a look at a particular photo he was staring at. It was one of when they had to go on some spider-monkey mission and save the queen or something, and in the picture itself was the queen placing a crown on Penn's head. Meanwhile, Boone, Sashi, and Verge were in the corner, looking sad, annoyed, and angry at the same time. Oblivious little Penn didn't even notice. The memory caused Verge to flutter her wings angrily like she did in the picture.

"Yeah…_we…"_ Sashi said in a rather sarcastic tone. As Penn walked ahead, Verge had to scoff.

"Sure…we _totally_ relate to that…"

"What do you mean?" Boone whispered, rolling his eyes a bit. "Penn gets all the showerings of glory." The fairy shook her head a bit as she shed her vest off and they stepped onto the platform.

"What are you guys talkin' about?" the redhead questioned.

"Huh?"

"_Nothing."_

"I thought I heard someone say something about showering, and I do have some strong opinions on the matter. Let's start with showerheads. Classic stainless steel or chrome, 'cause I say stainless steel. Chrome looks cheap no matter how you dress it up."

Before Verge could even drop down and attack him from above, Phyllis had already zapped them in.

* * *

"Clown World!" Verge cheered loudly, flying around in her Clown Fairy form. "Yeah! I missed it so much!"

"Verge, look!" Penn exclaimed, waving at where he was sitting at. "Yeah! All right! Tricked out clown cars!"

The fairy had to grin when she saw that and flew over. She did a quick examination of her friend's car, admiring it constantly. "Not bad," she mused, kicking a wheel. "Sounds like a promiser."

That's when she realized that the Clown World was hosting some sort of clown car race. They didn't know exactly for what yet, but she couldn't help just noticing all the cars first.

Penn grinned. "All right, let's see what she can do."

The first thing he did was shifted the gear.

A screen in front of it exchanged the words 'Park' and replaced the words 'Dance' and Penn let out an "Oh!" He started laughing when the car grew two legs and started dancing as it should. Verge was smiling as he looked like he was having fun.

"Go Penn's car! Go Penn's car!" Boone hooted. Verge realized he was in his police commissioner form again, and he had a 'car' of his own.

"Uh, Boone? Why are you in a hamster wheel."

"Technically, I'm _outside_ it, and clearly controlling it," He looked down at his container and marveled at just how many gumballs there were inside. "Cool. Gumball I was just sitting on!" He did not hesitate to gulp it whole. "Still warm."

Penn laughed at him. "Ho ho, you're gonna love that one pal."

Verge made a face. "Boone, I think it's a bad idea to do that."

"Buf ahm ungey!" (Translation: But I'm hungry!)

The fairy rolled her eyes. "If you lose, don't say I didn't warn you. Hey, where's Sash?"

Boone pointed upwards, and the three watched as Sashi was just nearing the starting line, in what looked like a whoopee cushion car. It literally let out gas, as the car was flying its way in.

"Now, _that's _my type of car!" Verge flew over almost immediately, examining its structure as she did Penn's. Sashi grinned proudly, and Penn had to smile.

"Well, at least you'll never run out of gas." He laughed at his own joke.

But Sashi merely smirked. She then turned her car around, so the whoopee cushion gas was aimed at him. At his frown came her chuckle.

"I wish I had a car," Verge whined.

"Vergie, you're the _fairy_,"Penn reminded. "You can always fly alongside the cars!"

"Or you can always ride with me," Sashi offered.

"I'll go with the latter!" Verge did not hesitate to randomly hop into shotgun seat beside Sashi. Penn squinted up at her, while the clown policewoman smirked back.

"OK. We're competing in the Chuckle City 500. The winner becomes the new mayor. Someone has to beat Rippen, or as his first act of legislation, he'll ban happiness and rename Chuckle City, Sad Clown Town."

"That's horrible!" The fairy guide exclaimed, standing up. "He couldn't have come up with a better name? How about _Frown_ Town?" Her teammates just stared up at her. "…Putting that aside, we now know that anyone here except Rippen can win, so let's just all do our best and hope Rippen loses his steering wheel." They all agreed to that.

"_Welcome to the Chuckle City Race for Mayor!" _the announcer's voice sounded out.

"Who's that?" Verge asked, jolting back and looking around.

Penn titled his head. "Never heard an announcer before, Verge?"

"Of course I have! But where is he?"

Boone pointed at the stage across and Verge watched as a Rodeo Clown Announcer popped right out of a barrel, still talking.

"…Oh." Her friends only smiled.

"_Honk honk! Awoooogah!" _

"I can tell he hates his job," Sashi whispered to Verge.

Verge nodded hastily as they neared the starting line again. The race was slowly beginning. Just then, she lit up when she noticed one certain butt sticking out of a car, as its owner was trying to fix the internal engine. "Sash, look," she said, pointing. The clown looked over and also lit up as they smiled at each other and neared it.

"I'd recognize that big back porch anywhere."

The clown that had helped Sashi the last time they were in the dimension appeared from the car and he grinned at once to see the two clowns he once knew. "Ah! Hello!"

"Clown guy!" Verge reached over to shake his hand, whereas nothing really happened.

But when he shook Sashi's, an electric jolt surged through his body, like lightning struck him. But all he did was laugh. "Glad to see you haven't gone back to being a Negative Nancy! …No offense, Nancy." He waved at the neighboring car, where a sad little clown was sitting there.

"None of this matters anyway…"

"It's awesome to see you too," Verge agreed. "Mr…uh…we never got your name, did we?"

The clown bartender chuckled. "It's Soda Jerk. But please! Call me Soda Jerk."

"Any tips on how to win this race?" Sashi asked.

"Yeah! Watch your back."

He pressed a button next to the wheel, and a giant hose popped out of it. Verge immediately saw it coming, yelped, and flew off the car before she could get soaked along with Sashi. "And your front! And the sides! I'm gonna be mayor! Stay outta my way. You too, Mitch!"

He glared at the monkey and hosed it off its horse.

Sashi just rolled her eyes playfully as she wiped her face. "Here, Sash," Verge summoned gusts of wind to dry her off, and Sashi managed to recover.

"Thanks, Verge. Guess old friends can become enemies."

"Better believe it. But _some_ enemies will _stay _enemies." Verge pointed forward, to signal that Rippen was taunting Penn. "Hold up." She flew over to Penn's side, who exchanged looks with her.

"Get ready to lose! I have the best car! Nothing can stop me!"

As if on cue, a pie shot Rippen in the face. Verge realized it was from Larry's car. As Rippen only deadpanned, she whispered to Penn, "Don't worry about Rippen that much. We know how wind-ups work. They'll run out eventually, and it'll be a while before he can charge it up anyway." Penn grinned at that as they fist-bumped.

Now, it was time for the race to start. The fairy flew back to Sashi, who waited for her in the car they shared.

"_Ladies and gentleclowns,"_ the announcer boomed. _"Please turn your attention to the VIP booth, where I be with Lane Duck Mayor, Mayor Lane Duck – quack quack quack – will fire the starting pistol! Boing! Clang! Whoosh!"_

"Good luck, guys!" Verge yelled, cupping hands around her mouth. Boone gave a thumbs up, still chewing gumballs. Penn was too busy glaring at Rippen. Sashi pulled her back down to avoid embarrassment.

"_Ready!"_

Larry waved at Verge and Sashi, in which the fairy waved back, but the policewoman only squinted at. Boone chose to glare at Mitch as well.

"_Set!"_

He fired the pistol countless times, but there were a couple of flags that appeared before the actual start…

_Wait for it!_

_Psyche!_

_Annoyed yet?_

_I would be?_

_LOL_

"_GO!"_

And then they were off.

It first started with Rippen using a tongue from his car to wetten the ground. Penn frantically used his own car to jump over it. Sashi and Verge's continued to fly, but Verge looked disgusted. "Rippen, seriously," she mumbled.

As she kept her eyes on the road, they widened when she saw something up ahead. "Uh, Sash?"

The clown immediately noticed and her first instinct was to warn Penn. "PZ! Watch out for the giant pot!"

"Pot_hole?"_

"No. Pot!"

Penn gasped when he saw the actual cooking tool in front of him. "I'm on it!" Using his car's feet, he used it to kick the pot forward. It was sent flying, before it finally landed on top of a certain car. That car just happened to belong to a certain clown bartender.

"Sorry, Soda Jerk!" Verge called out as they whizzed past.

"Eyes on the road more, Verge," Sashi advised, but still smiled as surged forward. A giant loop was up ahead, and everyone made sure to get through it.

"_Goooooooonnngggg sooooound. Last gong sound means the racers are reaching the end of the first lane!"_

"All right!" Verge cheered, pumping her fist as they rode side by side with Penn, closing up on the finish line. Rippen may have taken the lead, but at least they still had chances.

Suddenly, Boone's giant hamster wheel car zoomed by, and Verge could've sworn he heard screaming. "Is it me, or was Boone covered in gumball?" Sashi and Penn looked at each other in confusion.

Boone had fired an emergency brake flare, and now his friends were forced to stop with him. "What happened?" Verge asked.

"My gas pedal got stuck to the floor," he explained. "You know why, I burst the gum."

"We can see that."

"Well, that's OK," Penn said. "It was just the first lane, but Boone, buddy, if you go that fast, how am I supposed to finish first?"

Those words made his whole team look annoyed. "OK, whoa, whoa, whoa," Sashi piped up. "Our mission isn't to make sure _you_ win, it's to make sure Rippen _loses,_ which means any of us can win the race!"

"Yeah, Zero, didn't I say that from the beginning?" Verge said. In a low voice, she muttered, "I bet if I had a car of my own, I could beat you…" Luckily, Penn didn't hear that.

Boone nodded. "Maybe someone else could have their baboon head crowned by the spider queen this time."

That's when it hit him. "Oh," Penn frowned. "Well-yeah-uh-I-uh, I didn't know you guys felt that way. Look, we can all compete! I mean, I-I have impeccable hand-eye coordination, and a sociable need for speed, not to mention, I'm the _hero,_ b-but you guys have a lot of other great qualities…" The three exchanged angered looks, symbolizing their hatred at the moment. "…which may not be applicable in this particular situation, but so what? Let's just promise to not let competing mess with our friendship." He held his hand out to shake on it.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Everyone looked at Boone a little confusingly. "…Sorry. I meant to say…" He opened his container and let his hand out. "Good luuucck."

"Right," Verge muttered, also reaching out. "Good luck."

"Yeah! Friendship."

The four all held hands in promise, but when they were about to break apart, they were stuck to Boone's gum. "…I should probably wash my hands."

"Ya think?" Verge grumbled, managing to life one hand. "On it."

In a flash, a huge waterfall of water was douse right over their heads. The gum washed right off, but it didn't help the fact they were now drenched. They looked at the fairy, but she just shrugged at them like "What did you want me to do?"

Later on, they had positioned themselves to get ready for the second lane. There was a big billboard, and everyone could see the announcer talking. _"Yes, it's about to get to that, Jean. Ahem. Lane 2 is about to begin!"_

"Hey, Sash, Verge!" Penn called from in front of the two. "Good luck."

"You too," Sashi mumbled.

"Mm-hmm," Verge said.

Boone looked back to give another thumbs up, saying something as he chewed.

"_Ready! Se—_

"_GO!"_

They were off again. This time, Verge knew things were about to get a little bit more intense. They passed through a tunnel that was leading them out of the city. "Watch out, Sash," Verge warned. "Zero's buying banana peels."

Sashi noticed and smirked. "Good thing we're in the air."

The banana peels were used to distract Boone. He was slipping, but managed to recover by finally using his gumballs for something helpful at the moment, and creating a ramp to get him in the lead.

"I got this." Before Verge could question, Sashi pressed a button, and two hands that looked like they could go with Penn's car appeared. They took hold of Penn, and threw him back, making him last against the three.

"That wasn't fair, Sash," Verge said, frowning as they continued.

The clown policewoman only shrugged. "All's fair in love and war."

"Where's the love?"

She didn't reply.

They passed by another billboard, where the announcer was seeing Rippen's car dying down, meaning it needed another turn of the key on it. _"Wak wak wak waaaaak."_

"I knew that was a horrible car."

"Verge! Road!"

The fairy turned to the road, but she didn't notice that Penn had sent a giant bird to distract them. It tried poking them, but Verge shooed it. "Bad birdie! No!"

Unfortunately, that didn't work. It flew up higher, but it just then decided to lay an egg. Verge flew off the car again, but that didn't stop the egg from falling on the driver. "Yolk's on you, Sash!" Penn called and laughed, as he and Boone took the leads again.

"Come on!" Verge urged the car to move, and Sashi glared at her two friends. She wiped the yolk away and started the car again. She was nearing Penn once more.

She pressed a button, and the two hands brought out a wooden table. They slid it forward, going underneath Penn, and the two feet on his car hit it. For some reason, the pain reached Penn. "Ow ow, ow ah!"

Boone was in the lead this time, but Sashi and Penn were still fighting against each other. She sent out a load of chattering teeth at him, and the redhead policeman struggled to get through them. Verge may not have been in the car anymore, but she also tried keeping up, constantly calling out to her friends. But they were still battling. Penn used his car legs to kick Boone out of his lead.

But then the three cars were side by side again. They were hitting their cars again each other, trying to push the other out of their game.

"Hey! Watch it!"

"_You watch it!"_

"What are we watching?! I don't see any TV!"

"Guys! _Stop!"_

It was too late. There was a dead end up ahead, and the three were heading _straight for it. _The three were screaming, but Verge flew in faster than they could start. She each took and brought her friends out of their cars, sprinkled them with fairy dust, and they all flew into the air as their vehicles landed in a deep ball pit. As the three saw their cars sink in, they watched as the other competitors were just passing by, taking the leads for themselves.

And with that, they watched Rippen take the second lane.

Now, the three of them went sad.

Verge couldn't bear to see them like that. They were slowly nearing the ground, not even controlling their flight anymore. One of the ushers in charge of a large stork was helping the three as it brought their cars out of the pit. Verge put a hand on each of her friends' shoulders, trying to pat them all equally. They looked at her gratefully, but that didn't stop Sashi from speaking the truth.

"Rippen's gonna have a huge lead now! Sorry, PZ. We should never have competed with you. You're our leader. You deserve the glory."

As they guilt-tripped each other, Penn jabbed a finger at her face. "Sashi, shushie. Because the truth is, I'm nothing without you guys"

"You got that right," Verge scoffed. They all looked at her. "…Sorry. Caught in the moment. But seriously, you should've listened to us. It doesn't matter who's first or last. We're supposed to be working together to get the mission _done._"

Penn nodded. "Exactly. Hey, we're a team!" He walked over and placed his arms over their shoulders. Boone, Sashi, and Verge all smiled.

Boone was chewing on another gumball as he nodded. He tried saying something, but Verge hushed him. "Shush, Boone. We can't understand a word."

Sashi rolled her eyes and turned to the stork. "But with our cars wrecked, none of us will be able to beat Rippen!"

"Think again, Sash."

The three looked at their friend in confusion as all Verge did was grin. She flew up to the usher in charge of the stork and knocked on his window. "Hey, bud. Could you, ah…" She whispered in his ear and he nodded.

The clown directed the stork over to some shop. The three were still confused as they followed them. Penn seemed to understand when they arrived at a certain place called "Goofy Body Shop". Penn and Verge exchanged a look, but Sashi and Verge were still confused.

"Well, we'll just have to un-wreck them. Or as Boone will say…." He spoke in Boone's chewing voice, but Verge shushed him again.

"Please. Less speaky, more worky."

The quartet got to work.

They collaborated together to fix a single, brand new car. Boone chewed gum to stick parts together. Penn found brand new shoes and put them on the legs. Verge flew up to reach the high places, and attach the "poles". Sashi put beans in her whoopee cushions to create extra gas. It took a while, but they managed to pull off one very mixed car. Or should we say, hamster wheel.

"Let's do this guys," Verge said proudly.

"_Quadruple fist bump!"_

Together, they got into the wheel.

The new vehicle brought them all the way to the last starting line. Verge saw Rippen looking pretty confident, but then had an expression changed to horror when he saw the quartet smirking back at him. They grinned at him, sending looks like "We're gonna kill you". Rippen sent one right back.

"_Bing! Awoooogah!"_ the announcer said. _"Ni-ha-ha-ha! _Happy, Jean?"

"_GO!"_

For the final time, they were off.

The hamster wheel with the four clowns were slowly closing in to Rippen. Once they were near, Penn shouted out, "Let'a rip, Sash!"

The clown girl pushed a button labeled "Who-ever Smelt It" and the whoopee cushion let out even more gas. This caused the wheel to speed up and catch up to the villain. However, Verge looked back and saw Rippen had also upgraded his car. The laughing it started to make fired it up even more, and it was even faster than ever.

"We have to speed up!" Verge cried out.

"Yeah!" Sashi shouted back. "We can see that!"

It had come to the sudden realization that Penn needed to sacrifice something. "Guys, we're carrying too much weight. I must've eaten too many banana peels."

"Zero, what are you—"

Before she could finish, Penn opened the emergency door and crawled out. Once he escaped, he let go.

"_Zero!"_

"See ya at the winner's circle!"

"Come on, Verge," Sashi encouraged. "Let's win this for Penn."

"Ugh! That hawkhead! Why does _he_ get all the dramatic scenes?"

Boone and Verge held on tight as the violent clown put the pedal to the metal. They were way behind Rippen, but they still heaved on. Later, they were just meters away from the finish line, and they thought victory was theirs when they passed Rippen.

But the villain wasn't up for it. He decided to set out an emergency pie flare. But it wasn't for himself. "Look out!" Verge screamed.

This time, she couldn't get her friends to escape that. The wheel crashed right into the pie, causing them to stop. Rippen was grinning as he saw his chance.

"No, no, no!" Sashi shouted out.

"Come _on!" _Verge got out of the wheel and used fairy dust to get it back on track. But by the time they got back up, Rippen had already crossed the line. Literally.

"I won…I won! I finally won!"

As he started laughing, all the other cars just arrived. Penn held a rather surprised expression. The wheel with the three clowns just arrived at the very moment. They looked so defeated, like this was the first time they believed the failed.

Which was almost true.

Verge looked at Penn worriedly. Had he sacrificed himself for nothing? When Penn saw her, he could only smile. But the fairy knew him too much to know that he was thinking something completely different.

"Yeah!" Rippen continued to hoot for himself. A lion had appeared to present the prize. "Show me it, so I can ban happiness once and for—"

He suddenly stopped when the lion wasn't going to him. And then Rippen realized something. "Larry?" he questioned, horrified to see his minion holding the trophy he thought should be his. "Larry, what's going on?!"

"Oh! You didn't hear? I won the race like an hour ago! Yeah, I was loading a pie into my cannon and accidentally fell in! Then it went off and shot me all the way to the finish line!"

"Wow," Verge commented as all her friends reunited again. She crossed her arms as she was flying in the air and scoffed down at them. "Plot twist alert. Well at least _Rippen_ didn't win. That was the mission, right?" Her friends scoffed right back at her.

Rippen was more than just furious at the news. _"But I'm the villain!"_

Larry actually looked a little annoyed at that. "Hey, just because I'm the minion doesn't mean I can't win! You ego-maniac."

As Rippen shook with anger, Verge called out, "Well said, Principal Larry!"

"Sorry guys," Penn was saying. "You'll get to be in the winner's circle next time. I promise."

His fairy friend smiled and punched his shoulder playfully. "It doesn't matter if we're in or out. Just as long as we're still friends."

"Besides," Sashi said, still smiling. "Rippen losing is victory enough."

Boone started to speak again, his mouth still filled with gum. _"A win-win!"_

"Wow," Verge gasped slightly. "I can't believe I understood that." The quartet chuckled together.

Just then, the pot that trapped Soda Jerk just pulled up to the finish line. They could all hear his voice from inside. _"Did I win?"_

* * *

**Well, this is all I could do for today! I have a new dream too guys! I want to be able to be a script-writer for Disney. I'm working super hard to achieve my dream, so I'm really studying a lot. I'm gonna need all the support I can get if I want to be both author and script-writer. I'll try updating the next episode as fast as I can. But please understand my reasons for not being able to :3**

**See ya'll next time!**


	36. Rock and Roll

**Chapter 30: Rock and Roll**

* * *

**So I updated pretty early xD**

* * *

"Oh what fun, what a wonderful day~" Verge hummed as they entered the Odyssey.

"Pulling a Hue there, Vergie?" Penn joked as they neared the platform.

"Is it wrong to be cheerful?"

"Uh, no." To prove it, Penn looked up at their mechanic. "Goood afternoon, Phyllis! How's it gooooing…"

He stopped himself short when he found her inside the MUT controls. "Uh, you all right there, Phyls?" Verge called.

"Today is just routine de-snaking."

"_Snakes?!" _Boone exclaimed, looking terrified.

"Is nothing. Today, you get to be spies."

The news instantly brought a smile on Penn's face. "Spies?! Oh, yes! High tech gadgets! Tuckshedos. And maybe a…high tech tuckshedo!"

"All aboard the Disappointment Train," Verge whispered to Sashi. The brunette scoffed.

"With gadgets! And—_oh, what is happening?!"_

They all looked up to see a giant snake, and hear Phyllis' voice echo from inside it. "Don't worry. Going in hurt me, but going out will hurt snake."

"No!" Verge cried out, feeling her animal fairy sense picking up. "Don't hurt it! Maybe I should stay, we can do a proper operation so _no one_ has to—"

"Phyllis does not have time for your complaints. Good luck!"

Before the fairy knew it, they were zapped in.

* * *

"Zero. Penn Zero."

The three looked at their redhead friend and quickly exchanged a look. "The Disappointment Train is nearing its destination," Verge mumbled.

"I think your bowtie is a spider," Sashi noted.

"What?! Ah! Get it off get it off get it off me!"

Sashi flicked it away, but Verge quickly caught and started to stroke it. "Aw, he didn't mean that…"

Penn took a deep breath and looked around. "What's going on?"

When they looked around, they didn't at all look like they were in some high tech office area. In fact, it was like everything around them was made of stone. The people there didn't dress up fancy either. They were wearing animal skin for clothes. The quartet were wearing identical outfits as well. Verge's dress was in cheetah printed, and in the form of her usual clothing. Her pigtails were tied and clipped up by vines and bones, like Sashi's was. The only thing different from her friends was that she wasn't as hairy. And when Penn came to a realization, he frowned.

"W-W-W-Wait a second! We're _cavemen?"_

"Cave_people,_ thank you," Boone corrected.

"It's just like that other dimension we were in," Sashi noted. "Like the one with the rocks, only we look different."

"What dimension?" Verge questioned. "I like this place. I'd know if we were in somewhere like this."

"Once _again_: you were sick."

"Aw, dust it! I miss out on all the fun."

"On the bright side, we know how you look like in caveperson form," Penn piped.

"Gee, thanks."

"All right," Sashi said. "We're agents for the CLIA. The Cavemen Low Intelligence Agency."

"Cavepeople," Boone corrected again.

Penn crossed his arms. Verge groaned inwardly. "Does it matter?"

Sashi just ignored and continued. "Our mission: locate a weapon of mass destruction and return it to cavequarters before it falls into enemy hands."

Penn seemed to understand. "Well, could this secret weapon destroy the world in a blink of an eye?"

"It's a rock."

That caused a bit of an awkward silence. "…OK. Well, R-O-C-K must be an acronym for something dangerous. Like Remote Operated Command Killbot!"

"It's a rock."

"Is it actually an egg, for some sort of monster that threatens all of cavemanity?!"

"It's just a rock."

"Is it…made of…diamonds?"

"Rock."

"What is dangerous about a rock?!"

"It's really big." Even Boone and Verge nodded in agreement.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Just go along with it, Zero."

"…OK. Where _is_ this really big rock?"

"On it!" Boone piped up. He turned to a flat rock that looked like a screen and spoke to it. "Computer, where is the deadly rock?"

He crossed his arms proudly as he waited for an answer, but big surprise, nothing happened. The remaining three exchanged deadpan looks. Boone swiped a finger across it, but he only smudged the little drawing. Like an actual cavemen, he got "fascinated" and started writing on the walls. "Cool."

"Well, he's useless," Verge proclaimed. Penn sighed.

"I'll call in our assistant."

Sashi picked up a rock that had the words "Intercom" on it. She threw it, and the rock landed on someone's head. There was an "Ow" followed by a large man entering the room. "You rang, ma'am?"

"Yeah. We need Intel for the location of the rock."

"I will check with Nugg, our satellite technician."

The caveman left the room, and Penn and Sashi exchanged looks. "This agency is supposed to have high-quality technology," Sashi explained.

"Well that should be obvious?" Verge was staring at the other caveman items there. She stared at one of the workers, who was sitting cross-legged on a desk and managing a tablet, and started knocking on her head. "Does this work?"

The cavewoman growled and slapped the fairy's hand. "Watch it!" she grunted.

"Hehe, she didn't mean it," Penn said quickly, taking Verge's hand and pulling her away. "Focus here, Verge."

"Right, right. It's just amazing how all this is supposed to be…'new'."

The caveman had returned with Nugg and set her down. She seemed hazy from her fall, but she managed to pour dust on a flat rock surface. "Processing satellite data!" She then started drawing on it.

"This is cool!" Boone said, nudging Penn. "Seeing a satellite up close like this?"

Penn decided not to respond.

"Our surveillance reveal the location of the rock, sir!" Nugg handed the tablet over, and they could see a map of where the rock was just laying on.

"Thanks, Nugg," Sashi said, examining the map. "That'll be all."

"Thank. You. Ma'am."

"Now to get outfitted with the latest gadgets!"

"I believe that's Boone's department," Verge noticed, nodding slightly at Boone's bowtie. He seemed pretty techy, so she assumed he could help with the situation.

The Wiseman lit up at that. "Ooh, ooh, yeah! I've got some cool new stuff! Follow me." Penn and Verge exchanged a look as they trailed after Boone, leaving Sashi to deal with the other agency members.

"It's gizmo time!" Boone exclaimed, waving jazz hands. He was standing before a cave entrance, as he put on what looked like a lab coat and glasses. He picked up a stone tablet and gestured for the two to follow him again.

When they stepped inside, they could see some stands containing draped items, hiding the gadgets Boone created under them. "Please save your applause for the end."

He revealed the first gadget by taking the cloth off. "State of the art: nanorocks!"

Penn and Verge exchanged a look again. "What do they do?"

"They're basically small."

"…How nice?" Verge was unsure of her statement as she pocketed the rocks.

"Can they…pick locks? Maybe?"

"No. But the good thing is, I don't think locks have been invented." He moved on to the next stand. "Next, we have…" He unveiled the cloth to reveal sticks.

"Please tell me they shoot lasers," Penn deadpanned.

"They shoot lasers."

"…But not really, right?"

"No, of course not."

"Fabulous." Verge sighed and pocketed the sticks.

"Boone, do you have anything that's even remotely cool?!"

"Hahaha, yes! Because Boone saved the best for last!"

"Well, this should be good," Penn mumbled at Verge, following the boy again.

Boone led them to a rock blocking a cave entrance and he proceeded in rolling it away. "Your spy mobile!"

Penn lit up in hope as he entered the room, but he only ended up being disappointed once again when he saw what was waiting for him. "It's just a log."

He wasn't kidding. It was just a log.

"On the bright side," Verge said after a while. "It looks healthy."

"And it's all yours!" Boone cried out. He handed Penn a small rock, which seemed to be the key. Penn only took it in annoyance and pressed it. There was a little car opening sound, but it was only caused by Boone.

"OK!" Verge piped up, clapping her hands together. "Let's get this show on the road! Boone, get the map with Sashi. Come on, Zero, let's bring this baby out."

As Boone left, the redhead caveman and his fairy guide started pushing the log out of the cave. The moment they were by the mountain they were supposed to be climbing, Penn started complaining.

"This isn't even the spy world I was hoping for! Where are all the new stuff? Where's the real tech?"

"Well, this _is_ a caveman world," Verge said, frowning. "Look, Zero, this is a world different from others we've been to. You have to get used to that fact, and find something to actually look forward to.

"Maybe I will. When we _actually_ _have _something to look forward to."

Boone and Sashi finally arrived, and they were ready to scale the mountain. However, they were having a pretty tough time dragging it up towards the crest. Especially with Boone sitting on it and not helping at all. "I don't see why we can't just walk!" Penn said.

"This log could come in handy," Sashi convinced. "We just haven't figured out how yet."

"Verge! Why can't you even just use your dust?!"

"I don't tell you everything!"

"Veeeeergeeee."

"I don't know, OK?! It doesn't seem to be working in the world! Fairy dust must be technology too. I wonder if any fairy ever planned stepping foot here…"

Boone cleared his throat and started talking in a girlish voice. "In five feet, turn right!"

"Way to help out, Boone!"

They pushed really hard, but that seemed to be too much. Boone's eyes widened when he felt the log tipping forward. "I meant my right!" He was screaming as the log cascaded downwards.

"It's the same right!" Sashi yelled, as they ran after him.

"I'll catch him!" Verge tucked her wings, as she fell down towards the direction of the log. As Boone screamed, she managed to catch up to him and hold onto the log. The moment she was on, a rolling Penn whizzed past her. "Ow! Whoa! This! Hurts! So! Much!"

Sashi also jumped on the log as they steered it towards Penn. Verge held her hand out as they took him and placed him safely on the log. "See, Penn?" Sashi smirked. "Because of the log, we're making good time!"

"Guess again!" Verge shrieked.

They all started to scream when they found themselves falling face-first into a murky brown river. They splashed in, and almost immediately came up again, but they looked faint from smelling the water. To make things worse, when they came to, their eyes widened when they saw what was up ahead.

"Whoa-oh!" Boone gasped.

"Waterfall!" Verge shouted. Then she paused. "Is it mudfall? Watermudfall? You know, it's hard to tell when the color is—"

"_Verge, not now please!" _Penn shrieked.

"Better drop the anchor!"

"Boone, no! That's the map!"

Dropping the map was one thing. Falling down the waterfall without it was all Penn could think of as his friends screamed for their lives. It took a while, but they all managed to get out of the river safe and sound.

"Well, that went well," Verge coughed, sprawled out on the ground like she was about to make a snow angel.

Nothing, however, stopped Penn's rage. Everything else he encountered made it worse. He gasped when the log also managed to get to dry land with them.

"It's gizmo time!" Boone randomly said.

Finally, the redhead snapped. "You're not using your catchphrase properly!"

The three exchanged worried looks as Penn got out of the water first. Verge stood up, not minding the weight of her wet wings as she followed the hero. "Zero, calm down."

"Calm down? Calm down?! This is such a disappointing world full of useless stuff! Stupid prehistoric _sticks, _stupid prehistoric _rocks, _stupid prehistoric tripwire—"

"Wait, what?"

Before they knew it, a handmade trap was thrown over them, and the quartet found themselves laying on their stomachs, as a heavy net held them down. They tried struggling free, but the rocks that held the trap wouldn't let them.

"Well, this is just embarrassing!" Verge cried out. "A half-garden fairy trapped by _plants_ and nature. What else could go wrong for me today?"

"This isn't about you, Verge," Sashi grumbled.

"I know. But I have a feeling on who's responsible for all this…"

Just then, a large dead animal came sliding in out of nowhere. Two certain people were sitting atop it, with the leader on the back looking pretty smug. "Behold! The dead wooly rhino minivan!" Rippen introduced. "Great for families and villains bent on world domination."

"And check out the cupholders!" Larry pointed out. "…Oh, no, that's just a nostril." He still placed his coconut cup in it. "Well, you know what, it still works though."

"Rippen, what's up with your hair." Verge said, slightly deadpanned. "It's not even…you know." Long story short, Rippen was bald.

"That can be arranged. On the subject matter, I must say, I love it here. I can bring about wonders these primitive cavemen can't even dream of!" To answer Verge's question, he reached inside the rhino's mouth and brought something out of it as he then placed it on his head. "I mean, look at that! A grass toupee! I did that in like, five seconds!"

"Congratulations. You managed to do that _and_ make me lose my lunch."

"Shut your mouth, cave fairy. You and I both know you're useless in this dimension. Meanwhile, I may finally be able to win because of my strengths here." Verge snorted, and Penn had to glare. "Look at all my achievements!"

"I see nothing."

"But my favorite is this." He then brought out what looked like a horn and blew into it.

As if on cue, a giant tiger appeared from the bushes, growling as he stared at a piece of meat dangling in front of him. The quartet screamed (or more like the three did, Verge just stared with wide eyes) as they believed the tiger was going to eat them. However, its full attention was on the meat. It licked its lips and pounced, but it didn't land on them. Instead, it landed on the other side of the trap, slowly following the meat. The four then realized it was carrying a pile of rocks in a giant log wagon, looking just about ready to trample over them.

Penn just had to question it all. "Uh, why don't you just feed us to the saber-tooth tiger?"

"Because I'm an innovator?" Rippen said, in a "duh" tone. "Now tell me where the rock is!"

"The only one who knows is Boone! And _he _will _never _tell you!"

"Try again, Zero," Verge mumbled. "I can actually feel his fear beside me."

"The rock…is…"

His friends stared at him horror, silently pleading for him to hold it in. But when Boone looked at the rocks about to be trample over them, he just knew he couldn't let them all get killed. "The rock is…over that geno direction somewhere!"

"No!" the girls schouted.

Rippen laughed out loud. "Thanks for that! To the wooly rhino, Larry!"

As Rippen got on his ride, he laughed again as he pushed it up the mountain. Soon, they were gone.

"He couldn't have given us the letting us go reward?" Verge mumbled. "Of course not he's a villain!"

"You're talking to yourself again, Verge."

"Thanks for giving the location, Boone!"

"Hey! I wanted him to leave so he could buy us time into thinking of how to escape."

"I know. Yet, it's still your fault."

"Well, _so-rry."_

"I hate the idea of learning anything from Rippen," Penn interrupted. "But these are desperate times. Instead of wishing this world would be something it's not, I should just make the most of what it actually is." When he smiled at his friends, Verge could only explode.

"_Seriously! When will be the day you will actually listen to my advice?!"_

"Whoa, Verge," Sashi said, actually sounding concerned. "Blow a fuse there?"

"Sorry, Vergie," Penn apologized. "I know, I should really listen more. But at least I did learn something."

He then reached into his pocket, taking out some of the rocks he'd split up with Verge earlier. "Rocks. Nanorocks." He threw the little pebbles at the tiger's feet. This caused it to trip on them, and fall onto the ground.

Next, Penn took the sticks out. "Quick! Before he gets up." He and Sashi then started rubbing two of the twigs together.

The tiger was slowly standing now, and was soon back on its feet. The log wagon was moving again. Now desperate, Boone and verge started blowing on the sticks really hard. A small flame then erupted from Penn's stick. With a goofy smile, he started using the little flame he had to burn the vines over them. It took a while, and the wagon was just slowly nearing them, but the vines quickly snapped and loosened. The moment they saw their chance, everyone ran out and saved themselves from being run over.

But it wasn't over yet. "All right," Sashi said. "We better hurry if we're going to catch up to Rippen."

"Unfortunately, my wings are still wet, so I can't personally fly everyone there…"

"No need, Verge," Penn said, actually smiling. "We have something better. Besides. He's on a dead wooly rhino! We've got time. First, I'm gonna put something on a little more formal!"

He picked up a random spider on the ground, and finally accepted it to be his bowtie. Unfortunately, unlike before, Verge tried to stop him from doing that. "Z-Zero, that spider is a mother—"

Too late. "Ohh, it's giving birth! I thought spiders laid eggs! Closing my mouth now, they're getting in." He shut up, but that didn't stop the spiders from surrounding him in a web.

"OK," Verge sighed, rolling up whatever sleeves she had on her dress. "This is gonna take a lot of elbow grease."

Let's just say the process wasn't pretty.

When Penn was finally free, they were all more determined to go up the mountain again. "I say Boone pushes us this time," Verge spoke up. It was a 3-1 vote on that. When they were halfway through, they could already see Rippen doing the usual thing: thinking he was ready to achieve his dreams. The only thing left was the last part: getting defeated by the four.

"Not so fast, Rippen!" Penn shouted out, smirking.

"You're too late, Penn Zero," Rippen insisted. "I am completely in control of this giant rock!"

Guess again. One graze from his hand, and the rock suddenly started tumbling the other way. Rippen gasped and cried out as he started running after it.

"Guys, I suggest turning around," Verge said, slightly horrified.

"What? Why?"

"Turn around! Turn around now!"

Larry seemed to know how to control a rock. Pretty soon, he and Rippen were running on top of it and heading for the four. They quickly turned the rock around, and once again were going downhill.

Now was the time for Penn to get into this world's technology. He pressed a pretend button on the log. "Pressing smokescreen."

"Got it!" Boone confirmed. He used a twig and it crashed against the ground, cuasing smoke as they rode on. It hit the villains' faces, causing them to cough.

"Pressing cannon."

"On it." Using a twig and a rock, Sashi catapulted one over at Rippen and Larry. They were instantly knocked over the giant rock, and fully lost control.

"Engaging the fairy guide." Penn looked over at Verge, smiling and nodding as he gestured at her now dry wings.

"You asked for it." Verge smirked as she gave her wings a little flutter. Once they were sure to go, she flew off the log and over at the villains. Once they saw her, Verge let out a loud cry as she gave a really strong kick. The two were now fully knocked off the mountain, and were bot screaming as they were falling. _"My hair inventioooooon!"_

As the fairy caught up to her friends, so did the rock. It was speeding ahead, and was now in front of them. It was also slowly heading for the CLIA.

"Pressing net."

"That's you," Sashi reminded.

"Oh. Yeah. Yeah."

He gave the net he had a little twirl and hurled it at the rock. It was a perfect catch. But despite that, he couldn't get a full grip. The rock still surged forward, pulling their log along with them. "What do we do?!" Verge cried out.

"There's no fake emergency brake button!" Penn gasped.

"Boone! If you have a cool/not so cool invention at the moment, now would be a good time to show it to us!"

Those words seemed to inspire the Wiseman as he proudly put his glasses on. "It's gizmo time!"

Boone got off the log and used his flip-flops to screech against the floor. It took a lot of pressure, but they seemed to manage and quickly stopped the rock right before it fell off the cliff. "Nice save, Boone," Penn commented, smiling.

"I'm never making fun of your flip flops again," Verge muttered.

Boone grinned proudly. "You know flip-flops are my thang." He held them out like a torch, showing with pride his new invention.

Verge could only laugh as she brought Penn and Sashi in for a hug. "Another great mission, guys."

Later on, Verge found the villains again. Surprisingly, Rippen was stll working on the toupee. That, luckily, gave Verge the perfect time to capture him and strap him to the tiger stick. Now, it was moving faster than ever. They used the giant animal to make it easier to bring the rock to cavequarters. Once they arrived, all the workers were grinning proudly as they clapped with their feet.

"Um, what are they doing?" Sashi questioned.

"I think they're applauding us." Penn said.

"I question that," Verge mumbled.

"Yeah, maybe we should teach them how to clap."

"No, no, this is kinda cool. And…really weird."

"So it is, Zero. So it is."

Sashi continued to hold up the torch Boone had made. Nugg seemed to be very impressed by it and went up to them amazed. "What is this glowy burning power that allows you to be out after Father Ocean eats Baby Sun?!"

"Say what now."

"Uh…oh! You mean, fire?"

Nugg seemed to have an idea in her head. "Uncle Fire could be used as a weapon! Will have to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands…_like miiiiiine! _No more satellite launches! Nugg will rule the _woooorld!"_

She immediately took the torch and laughed as she tried running off with it. "You'll never catch me—"

Guess again. The saber-tooth tiger glared down at her as it roared before gulping her whole. "Finally. Ol' Toothy gets something to eat." Verge chuckled as she petted the CLIA's new pet. It purred against her cheek.

The fairy's friends only chuckled at her.

* * *

**Until next time, dear ridaas. I shall do my best to provide the next reading materials at high time.**


	37. Plantywood: City of Flora

**Chapter 31: Plantywood: City of Flora**

* * *

**I'm so happy I talked to Sam Levineeee :D**

**It was for a brief moment through a tweet, but STILL haha :) I just got some advice on how to be a good screenwriter. I have to say it helped ^^ Not bragging, btw, I just really need support I want to get out of my country and fulfill my dream :3 But anyways, back to business.**

**I'm afraid I can't post the special episode due to personal reasons uwu Instead, enjoy the recent episode! The next one may or may not be posted in a while either.**

**Please wait for the special episode, because I want to take my time with it. So far, not getting much luck. With hope and luck, I can post two weeks from now. My exams are coming up next week, so you guys have to wait longer :( But I promise it'll all be worth it in the end~! ^^**

* * *

"Hey there, Phyllis! What's the dyllis?" Penn chuckled at his own joke as he and his team entered the Odyssey. They looked up at their mechanic, who was tsanding beside a clothed table, with a tray of food on it. It looked like a candlelit dinner for one.

"I cook frozen dinner," Phyllis responded, pressing a button on a remote. "Micorwave take too long." A ray appeared above the meal, getting closer and closer to the food. The friends stared in amazement.

When Phyllis pressed another button, everything exploded.

There was a fire blasting in front of their faces, and the quartet stared with stunned expressions. "I am scarred," Verge mumbled. The table had disappeared, and the only thing left was a charred tray. For some reason, the food still survived. Phyllis picked it up, blowing on her meal.

"OK. Today you go to Plant World. Enough detail, lunch get cold, good luck."

Zap.

* * *

Penn went through a door, looking pleased with himself as he stared at his form and looked around at what appeared to be a detective office. "No way! Except for me being a cactus, this is just like my favorite detective series! 'The Detective and his Trusty Sidekick'."

Sashi, who was sitting on a chair, spun around to face her partner. "I'm sure our mission is nothing like that stupid, overly complicated show." When she checked the Specs, she added, "You are a detective, and I am your trusty sidekick." Once realizing what she said, she paused. "Oh, man."

"Guys! Where are you?! Why am I only hearing your voices?"

"Verge? Is that you?" Penn questioned, looking around. "Why is it these days we can never know where you are first…"

"Ow!" Sashi suddenly brought her leaf hand up to her cheek, when she found one of the dandelion tufts were drifting away. The tuft turned around and revealed Verge's rather confused face.

"What the dust was that about."

"This is what happens when there's no such thing as 'plant fairies'," Penn smirked, sitting behind his desk.

"At least getting around will be a breeze."

"Well!" Sashi interrupted, leaf-hands raised up. "At least there's no annoying narrator!"

_Sashi had been wrong many times before. But never quite so wrong as at this very moment. _

"Boone?" Penn called out. "Where are _you?"_

Sashi jumped up. "Yeah! Show yourself!"

"Please don't tell me you're a tuft too," Verge said, starting to look worried.

_Boone didn't know. All he knew was that he could see everything, and couldn't stop referring to himself in the third person._

"Oh, so he's invisible?"

Sashi sat back down again. "Great. That's not going to get annoying…"

"Let's just focus on the mission, shall we? I do _not_ like this dimension."

"You don't like most dimensions." Penn pointed out.

"Shh, they don't have to know that."

"All right," Sashi continued. "Our mission is to stop Big Red, Plantywood's most notorious criminal, before he pulls of a mysterious crime."

"All righty," Penn said, flicking his fedora. "First off, all we need is a clue, that'll set us on a path with a million twists that'll blow our minds when we get to the shocking end! Who did it? Maybe it was me?!"

When Verge saw his wild appearance, she got terrified and moved next to Sashi.

"Seriously, let's start already…"

Sashi walked over to a file cabinet and started rummaging through it. She lit up when she pulled something out. "Look! Here's an address for Big Red's last known location. We should go there right away."

"Awesome," Verge said, taking the folder. "It appears that he's in—"

Her sentence was cut off by a knock on their office door.

Penn's eyes widened when he saw who was there, and he took his hat off as he gazed at a beautiful-looking rose.

_Penn couldn't believe his eyes. This number had a stem that ran all the way to Tuesday. All he could think of was…'I'm in love'._

"Oh, my," the rose said, still smiling in flattery.

"Really?" Verge blurted out, looking up at Boone, slightly annoyed. Apparently, they weren't the only ones who could hear him.

The cactus looked around frantically, as he blushed chuckled nervously. "I'm really not thinking that."

_But that was exactly what he was thinking._

Penn made signs to tell him to shut up, but it didn't work. As the rose sat down on the desk, Verge flew over to the hero's jacket and placed herself on his shoulder, ignoring the growls that came out of her mouth.

"Name's Orchid," the flower introduced.

Penn looked at Verge, who was even more confused than he was. "But you're a rose…"

Orchid only smiled and poured herself some water into a martini glass. "Nothing gets past you, does it? You must be the detective."

"That's me! Or, no, hold on. Is—Is it, that is I? That is I, no, that sounds stupid. Ah, blegh…I'm the cactus detective…I'm the Mr. Detective Cactus."

_Penn was obviously nervous. And the Narrator wasn't helping._

If Verge could facepalm, she would've done so.

"Anyway," Orchid continued. "I need someone to help me find my missing brother, Fern. He's an actual fern, adopted."

"Sure," Verge said. "We'd love t—"

"Sorry, rosebud," Sashi interrupted, taking Orchid and showing her out the door. "But we've got bigger seats to sew."

When she slammed the door, Penn reacted immediately. "What are you doing? Ugh, look. In the Detective and His Trusty Sidekick, the Smysterious lady with the problem is _always_ involved with the crime. _Always."_

"But this _isn't _your mystery show, Zero," Verge groaned. "I don't want to relive another episode of when they found the dog's corpse."

"Come on, Verge, I am aware of that. _But._ We should tail Orchid and see where she leads us."

_Sashi paused. She'd been wrong so many times before, she was starting to doubt herself. If only Boone were around to advise her._

"Boone, don't be ridiculous," Verge muttered. _"I'm _here."

After rolling her eyes, Sashi threw her leaf-hands up. _"Fine! _We'll follow Orchid. But for the record, I think we're heading towards a dead end."

"Ditto," Verge grumbled, using wind magic to open the door. "But we better get going. The sooner we solve this case, the better."

_Despite her qualms, Sashi and Verge climbed aboard Penn's Wild Hunch Express. Next stop: I-Told-You-So Station._

Ignoring Boone, the trio quietly followed the female rose through streets, trying to look as calm as possible. After getting pricked from Penn's cactus needles, Verge grew accustomed to living in Sashi's head. They later found Orchid at a club, where she seemed to be rocking the entertainment that night. The dream team got a table for two, and they spent the night watching the rose as she sang rather wonderfully. Penn blushed when Orchid caught his eye and she winked at him. Verge looked at Sashi, who looked just as annoyed as she was.

Suddenly, the dandelion tuft noticed a familiar figure in the corner. She couldn't tell how she recognized someone she'd never met before, but the eyes told her otherwise. "Zero, look," she whispered, gesturing with her head. Penn looked, and his eyes widened slightly, as if he too recognized that plant.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that fichus over there is acting shady, and I'm not talking about the shadow puppets he's making with his leaves…which _are _impressive…"

"A freak of nature like that is gifted. We should follow him next."

Luckily, he didn't go any farther. When Orchid finished her song, the fichus left his table and proceeded backstage. When they trailed after him, they could see him talking to the rose. There was a light, and they could now see the figure's face.

"Larry?" Sashi gasped.

"That's why he looked familiar," Verge whispered, mostly to herself.

"I knew that dame smelled like trouble," Penn declared. "And roses."

"You also knew she was beautiful. Who knows. Both facts could be wrong."

Penn just rolled his eyes.

_Penn tried his best to be witty. But he came up short. Big time._

As Larry was about to leave, the three of them preceded hiding in two vases. Larry was making his way out the club when a piece of film fell out of his bag. Once Penn saw it, he instantly picked it up, looking a little proud. But Sashi and Verge quickly got out the building. By then, Larry was gone.

"Ah, wings," Verge cursed.

Sashi groaned when Penn caught up. "He got away."

"Well, at least we got his roll of film," Penn said. "I bet there's a clue in these here photos!"

"_Or_ we can check out Big Red's _last known location._ It's _literally_ just up the road!"

"Zeroooo, come on, let's get this over and done with!"

"But my private eye is telling me that the _film_ is the next piece of the puzzle."

"Your private eye stinks. I'm this close to turning it black."

"How can you punch me? You don't have any hands."

"Do you _want_ to take this out back home?"

Now, the cactus was nervous. "Guys, let's just do things my way for once, please?"

"_For once—"_

Before Verge could explode, Sashi took the tuft off her shoulder and covered her mouth. "All right, all right! Let's get them processed."

Penn lit up, happy they agreed, as he went to a shop and had the pictures printed. Sashi let go of Verge and whispered, "Just go along with it. He'll shut up when he gets his lesson of the day."

"I hate when he finds the truth by the _end_ of the mission…"

When the three came out of "One-Minute Photos and Slush", Penn was examining the evidence while the girls shared a slushie. One of the pictures seemed to catch the hero's eye. "Hm. That pine tree sticks out like a sore green thumb. It's like a cat at a rodeo eating a calzone. It just doesn't seem right. We need to find him."

Sashi stared at the picture. "He just looks like he's photo-bombing Larry's seflie."

Verge scoffed. "There's almost more room in for the pine tree than Larry himself. Bet I could take a better one."

Penn went over to pat Sashi's back. "Trust me, guys, I got a—"

"Feeling!" the dandelion cringed, when she felt the cactus spikes prick her stem. "Yeah. Me too."

"Ooh, sorry! I saw an Aloe Vera waiting by the bus, want me to grab him?"

"No time," Verge said through gritted teeth, already taking the spikes out one by one. "This photo was taken at the beach. It's not far. Let's move."

The three now found themselves walking by the shores together (luckily Boone had no comment to that). As they scanned the area, Penn gasped when he pointed up at the lifeguard base. "There he is!"

The suspicious pine tree got off and broke out into a run.

"Get him!" Penn started chasing the tree, but Sashi and Verge hesitated. When the dandelion caught sight of a daisy on a surfboard, she smirked.

"Verge, you still have other powers, right?"

"Of course. Why?" When Sashi pointed, Verge's eyes widened. "Oh."

Using water powers, they managed to bring the daisy overboard. As it screamed and fell into the water, Sashi took the opportunity to get on it. As she rode the waves and tailed after the pine tree, she spun on the board, and cried out as she flung herself onto the shore. As she landed, she bent the board, and nailed the pine tree into the sand. He was dizzy from the hit, but the girls grinned at each other in pride.

Penn, who was caught in a pit earlier, finally arrived to them, and Sashi fired up questions. "Why were you running away?"

"I wasn't," the pine tree snapped. "I was just running, see? For exercise."

"That's what they all say, bub," Verge shot back. "Now, you're going to answer all our questions. See?" The pine tree squinted up at her.

Sashi brought out Larry's picture. "Do you recognize the fichus in this photo?"

"Why, sure I do, flower face! He made that sandpot over there."

"And did he say anything about his business here in Plantywood?" Penn said. "Spill the beans, you! Spill it!"

"I ain't spillin' for nobody!" the tree declared. "…All right, maybe this once. He left this behind, see?" He handed something over and the three examined it. "It's a brochure for the Museum of Botanical Arts, see? They're having an exhibit for the most valuable vase in the world. It's made entirely out of diamonds."

"Wait a minute," Penn breathed. "Of course! Big Red's gonna steal the vase!"

"_That _actually makes sense…" Sashi's "Oh" voice was revealing.

"See? I told you to trust me, you two. Now look at ya. Egg all over your face." Sashi only glared at him while Verge sighed.

"Whatever, Zero, my fairystincts are still telling me otherwise. The Museum isn't Big Red's last known location."

"What if _that_ information's wrong? We never know. Like you said, Verge, let's just get going so we can get it done with."

_Toot! Toot! Now arriving at I-Told-You-So Station._

"Is there a way to shut him off?"

"I would've found out by now."

The three were now wandering the dimly lit streets. Verge tried making it bright, and her head served as a little flashlight. "We're being tailed," Sashi whispered to them, looking behind. "Big Red must know we're onto him." Two mysterious-looking mushrooms were indeed just right behind them, almost looking ready to pounce.

"All right, let's split!" Penn commanded.

With that, the hero and his sidekicks went separate ways. Both goons decided to follow Penn.

"What do we do?" Verge questioned.

"What else? We strike back."

The mushrooms cornered Penn, despite his attempts to get away, but Verge and Sashi arrived just in time. With her karate skills, Sashi kicked away one mushroom, and then threw the other in the garbage. When the first just got back up, Verge grew to a bigger tuft size, and stuffed the top of her head against their noses. Before they could react, the first one sneezed loudly, which sent him flying towards the garbage with his partner. The two plants now groaned together.

"Nice work, guys," Penn grinned. "You're good sidekicks."

"Uh, excuse me? I'm the _fairy guide?_ Have we not established this?"

"You sure appear otherwise. By the way, you didn't tell us you could grow even as a plant."

"Oh, Zero, I don't tell you everything. Also, did you just really tell me that?"

"Yeah, scratch that, bring it in."

Considering Verge had no hands, Penn and Sashi high-fived, but he started apologizing when he hurt her again.

After one more spike-picking, the team were then running into the exhibit area. "Not so fast, Larry!" Penn exclaimed.

"Freeze, and put the camera down?" When Verge saw what the minion was doing, her voice faltered and they all stared.

Larry, who was holding a camera, only smiled at them when they arrived. Orchid was with him, but she didn't at all look like she was expecting their arrival. "Oh, hey Penn!" Larry greeted. "You here to see the vase too? You know, pictures just don't do a justice."

"Nice try, but we know that you and Rippen are here to steal that vase, not see it! Did you hear that, Rippen?! The jig is up!"

"Oh, Rippen's not here. He's getting ready to pour weed killer into the city water tower before the next watering." Upon seeing their shocked face, he let out a gasp. "Oh! I just revealed his evil plan, didn't I?" He blew a raspberry. "Me and my mouth."

"Why aren't you with Rippen?" Penn continued to question.

"He sent me on a lunch run, but I got side-tracked with some sightseeing!"

"Now, _that_ makes sense," Verge muttered, now glaring at Penn.

"…Yeahhh…but why is Orchid here?"

"I'm meeting my brother, Fern," the rose replied. "Turns out he wasn't missing. He was on a business trip."

"Hey!" Fern waved.

"Wait, uh…then…uh, why were you talking backstage at the club?"

"Oh, I was just asking for lunch recommendations. Oh, that All-You-Can-Eat Fertilizer Buffet? Mwah. _Yes."_

"O-K, but that _still_ doesn't explain why those goons were chasing us!"

"We was just trying to return this." Everyone turned to find the same mushrooms, looking extremely agitated, but still talking politely. "You dropped it at the club."

"Thanks for the headache," the second grumbled. "Was you raised by weeds?"

"That depends," Verge said. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Sorry, guys," Sashi sighed, now turning to Penn. "We wouldn't have bothered any of you, if we had just gone to Big Red's last location." Her pointing at the folder emphasized a lot.

"Yep," Larry said, pointing as well. "The good ol' water tower. You really should've gone there first."

As Larry continued to look around, Penn sighed. "I took this whole hunch thing too seriously, and I overcomplicated the mission. I need to learn to listen to your hunches more often, guys. Sorry."

"Oh, Zero," Verge sighed, turning smaller again and sat on his shoulder. "We all know it's impossible for you to do that. But it's OK. We still love you." Penn smiled.

_As Penn wasted time talking about what he learned…thousands of innocent plants were about to get soaked…with weed killer!  
_

"Now, we seriously need to hurry up. Let's move it, guys."

With a quick conjuring of fairy dust, the three started to fly, and they made their way over to Plantywood's water tower. Sure enough, Big Red had just arrived by the base, and he held one full bag of the poison he needed. His face looked pretty determined, but Penn was ready to break that.

"Freeze!" Rippen's eyes widened slightly, when he saw Penn seemed to be hiding what looked like a gun under his jacket. Penn smirked.

_Unbeknownst to Rippen, Penn didn't really have a weapon under his coat._

"_Boone!"_

Rippen let out a menacing laugh, as he kicked a barrel to send them rolling towards them. The three gasped, as they weren't exactly too quick to dodge them. Rippen started climbing the tower with the bag.

_It was curtains for Penn, Verge, and Sashi. There was no chance they could catch up to Rippen._

"Not necessarily. You know, I saw a helicopter tour company at the beach. We can use that hose to zipline down to the street, and then hop in the cab, drive to the heli—"

"I could just dust you guys again," Verge interrupted.

Sashi took Penn's arm. _"Or_ we could just take that elevator."

"Hey!" Fern waved.

"Right, right…over-thinking again."

"Ya think?" When Verge smirked, she grew bigger and practically pushed them all in as she flew. "Go, go!"

Once inside, the elevator was surprisingly faster. Penn and Verge grinned at each other.

_Considering the fact that Verge didn't have any hands and Penn was spiky, the detective and his guide just nodded in silent confirmation. They could do this._

"You took the elevator," Rippen noticed, once they met again at the top. "Very crafty move! But you're too late! Hope you're thirsty, 'cause I'm about to make it rain. And by rain, I mean _poison."_

"Zero," Verge whispered, using her head to nudge at the bag. Penn understood immediately.

"Hey, Rippen. Think fast."

He flung a cactus spike towards the villain, and Rippen only laughed at how it simply landed in-between his legs. "Ohohoho! You didn't even come close!"

Penn only smiled. "I wasn't aiming for _you."_

Rippen then looked down to see a leak in his weed killer bag. Before he knew it, all the contents dropped out, and the part-time villain began choking on air. He took one-step backward, and started screaming as he fell towards the ground. The three only grinned as they stared downwards in victory.

"Let's check out this awesome view, shall we?" Verge gestured with her head again at the Plantywood sign, where the water seemed to be pouring out. Now that she was just a tuft, she could still conjure up dust in the rain. She sprinkled Penn and Sashi, and they grinned at her gratefully as they preceded flying over to the sign.

Once they arrived, they climbed up the rest of the way, as they then looked down at the beautiful, dimly lit sight they beheld below them. Once again, they saved another dimension.

_It hardly ever rained in the city of Flora. Except, everyday. But the rain couldn't drown out what everyone was thinking. The Narrator could not be cooler._

"Boone," Verge grumbled.

Penn chuckled. "We'll get back at him later." Verge smirked evilly in agreement.

"_**The End"**_

* * *

**Hope ya'll enjoyed~ Remember, the next episode will hopefully be tomorrow and the special episode two weeks from now. If I don't post the next episode tomorrow, expect it two weeks from now as well! See ya'll~ :)**


	38. Boone's Apprentice

**Chapter 32: Boone's Apprentice**

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**Read the note at 31 :3**

* * *

Today was a very important day. Dodgeball was starting up once again. Our favorite team was getting ready, their faithful fairy at the sidelines cheering for them as usual. Penn and Sashi were both focused on their side of the game, desperately wanting to win. Unfortunately, it was only _they_ that were focused. Verge leaped up in her seat and started to shout out.

"_Boone! What are you doing?!"_

"Behold! The presence of Boone!" Their last member was starting to break out into a weird, ballet-like dance _on the court._ The rest of his team stared at him dumbfounded, and actually getting pretty annoyed when he started getting in everyone's way.

"Boone! Focus!" Penn yelled.

"Hey, I've been practicing for the whole week! You should all be worthy that I have found the time to present this to y—"

He was interrupted when a ball hit him straight in the face.

"_Gah!" _Before Penn and Sashi knew it, they too received balls to the head, and were out of the game. What's worse was that they were the last players. The other team hooted in victory, while the dream team groaned in defeat on the floor. Verge sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Someone help me bring them to the nurse, please?"

Up until the end of the day, the three refused to talk to Boone. He didn't seem at all depressed about their loss. Instead, he hummed the tune to his dance number from behind them, which caused them more annoyance. By the time they reached the Odyssey, Penn and Verge entered first while Sashi slammed the door in Boone's face.

Now, he was irritated. "I'm sensing hostility."

Penn tried not to sound too sarcastic. "What? Nooo, it's not like anyone's _annoyed _with you for _doing an interpretive dance_ and losing the dodgeball game for us. That's not…we…Sashi, Verge, are you mad? _No, we're not mad!"_

Boone did not detect anything in his tone. "Good. 'Cause I would ordinarily bother you three."

"Boone," Verge groaned, facepalming againas she flew over the platform.

"He's _kidding,"_ Sashi snapped.

"Well!" he said exasperatedly. "Make up your mind! Does it bother you or not bother you? I'm not a mind-reader." The three only glared back. The girls shook their heads.

Zap.

* * *

"_SO. CUTE."_

You could only guess that shriek was from Verge.

The team was in a forest. Penn was smiling rather cutely, for judging by Verge's scream, the whiskers, and cute bunny nose…well, he was a bunny. But his smile dropped a little when he saw his _body_. His expression was even more impressed. "Let me guess. We're doctors." He grinned as he flexed a muscle.

Sashi, who was a ferret, checked the Specs. "Nope. We're a band of heroic, ultra-ripped barbarians."

"That explains them." Verge pointed to their side to see what looked like giant mice working out. Their faces may have been adorable, but their bodies were just _whoa. _"Also explains you two!"

The fairy wrapped both her friends in a headlock and hugged their faces. They choked slightly, but Penn was more focused on Verge's form. She was still her fairy self, but more ripped and had women muscles. "So, what, are you an animal caretaker now?" Penn scoffed.

"Oh, please, Zero, I always am."

"Anyway," Sashi interrupted. "An evil sorcerer has enchanted an orb. When moonlight hits the orb, the entire world will be plunged into an eternal Forever Night."

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Penn questioned, still flexing.

The ferret pushed him down. "While we barbarians breech the wall of the evil fortress, our wizard will enchant the scepter to destroy the orb."

"Who's the wizard?"

They all looked up and saw Boone, who was an owl, in a tree, in a nest. He looked down at them with confusion.

"You are," Sashi responded.

"Who?" Boone said back.

"You, Boone. _You're the wizard."_

"You're a wizard, Boone," Verge said in a mysterious tone. Penn and Sashi looked at her. **((A/N: Hahahaha Harry Potter refs again xD))**

"No, get it? _Who! _I'm an owl, and owls say _hoo! _So I said _hoo _a bunch!" He laughed at his own joke. The three exchanged aggravated looks. "But seriously, who? I wasn't listening." Penn just glared. "Could you just explain the first part again? Also, the last part? Plus, I'm still a little hazy on the midd—Oh, a butterfly."

"Boone," Penn called. "We didn't wanna have to do this, but you leave us no choice. Verge, bring me a box with a curtain on it, and some socks."

"Sheesh, simple 'please' would be in order…"

It took a while, but while Verge acquainted them with some extra cloth she found lying around (don't ask where she got it), Penn and Sashi made some weird little hand puppets. Meanwhile, Verge pulled together a play-box out of some bark she found as well. In about half an hour, Boone had some popcorn, Verge was sitting beside him on a rock, and they leaned back to watch the show.

Using a Ferret Sashi puppet, a cardboard fortress figure, and a stick with a marble on top, Penn began explaining in a horrible Sashi voice: _"Uh-oh, Penn, Verge! If moonlight hits that orb, the whole world will go dark." _

A Verge puppet appeared and Sashi tried speaking in the fairy's tone: _"Ah, wings! What do we do?"_

Switch back to Penn and his rabbit puppet appeared. _"It's not up to us, guys. Only Boone, the wizard, can destroy the orb."_

Owl Boone puppet appeared and switch to Sashi's voice. _"I, Boonester, the wizard, will quit fooling around, and cast a spell, giving this scepter the power to destroy the orb, dude!" _With a tap of another marble scepter stick on the orb stick, everything was gone, and "back to normal". Penn and Sashi looked up and grinned in hope.

Verge was clapping politely, but it died down when Boone was _still _hesitating. Thanks to logic, he saved himself from his own team's punches by exclaiming, _"Oh! I get it!_ It's all up to _me! _Just one note. Sashi as Boone: total miscast."

Sashi responded by punching his puppet.

"Guys, look!" Verge said, pointing forward.

Rippen's warriors, who were just-as-ripped foxes, were yelling barbaric screams, as if taunting their own fighters. "You scrawny weaklings!" a fox leader shouted. "You'll never conquer our fortress!"

Verge leaped up from her seat and started flying ahead. "Oh, yeah?! We'll see about that! Feel the wrath of the fairy!"

Penn and Sashi lifted their box up and directed it towards the battle. "Boone! Enchant that scepter. Ultra-ripped animal barbarians, it's time to storm the fortress! Come on!"

All the barbarians were motivated enough to just plunge themselves into the war. But Boone still had questions. "Hey! I don't know how I'm supposed to do the enchantment spell thingy!"

Sashi checked the Specs again. "Ask your new apprentice for help!"

And that was it. Boone was alone. The rest of his team were now fighting to their deaths. And it would be all up to him.

Verge started it all by punching the first fox into the facehole. Once he was down, the next fox was ready to strike, but Penn was just behind her, kicking it in the face before he could hit. With two foxes down, the fairy and rabbit did a quick fist-bump before continuing to attack.

Verge joined Sashi, and she seemed like she was on a roll slapping the enemies left and right. It was her favorite thing to do, obviously, but she seemed even more unstoppable now. Grinning, Verge also joined in the punching and the kicking.

"Verge!" The fairy turned to Sashi to find her running up to her. Verge understood almost immediately and positioned her hands to give her a boost. Sashi was lifted into the air, and she performed a little spin. Once landed, she knocked over ten foxes off their feet. Literally. They all groaned, but the girls just laughed and high-fived.

"Talk about not using dust for a change."

They grinned and continued on.

In all honesty, the foxes weren't that strong. The barbaric mice were winning, and they probably weren't even that tired through half the hour.

"Even my ears are ripped!" Penn was shouting as he knocked another fox out.

Verge proved strength has she flew up in the air with one flutter of her wings. It was enough to crash a few more foxes down as well.

All the barbarians were hooting and flexing when they found that they won. Sashi cracked her neck and gave a look like "it was nothing". But now Rippen was firing arrows in their direction. There was barely any space to hide, so Verge tried conjuring protection shields. She couldn't hold on forever, though. "Guys!" she screamed. "Come on! Learn to fight back!"

"Boone?" Penn called. "Things are getting a little dicey over here! How's that magic spell coming?!"

"_Ahhh, don't worry Penn! Oh, we are so on top of it over here!"_

"We're doomed," Verge confirmed, stopping the shield and hiding with Penn. "All right, on the count of three, we just race towards the front door and we try to barge inside."

"Who made you in charge?" Penn scoffed.

"I don't tell you everything. Barbarians, we march!"

Before Penn could hesitate and contemplate what she said, the mice were motivated once again and they ran for the door. Penn quickly caught up, and they were now all in front of the fortress. They looked up to see Rippen laughing at them.

"How about a bath? Of scalding oil?"

An entire cauldron was suddenly dumped over all their heads. They all braced for the worst, but their expressions turned happy when the oil actually made them _shiny. _The mice danced around in victory, enjoying the smooth texture on their now flawless skin. One mouse actually dumped more oil on himself.

"_Hot oil, Larry, I said hot oil!"_

"Well, my wings are wet, but at least I'm glistening," Verge chuckled, checking her muscles.

Penn was also admiring himself. "Oh, man, this stuff really brings out the definition."

"Zero!" Verge pointed towards the open field, and they all gasped when they saw the sun just about to set. Penn put his brave face on.

"Come on, everybody! We gotta get through those doors and secure the castle for Boone! Follow my pecs!"

"Gross," Verge muttered to Sashi as all the barbarians charged in, still shouting.

Unfortunately, the entire team together couldn't bring the door down.

One jump-kick from Sashi did, though.

When Verge flew inside, Sashi winked. "Girl power, am I right?"

The mice didn't exactly just decide to charge in. Once they were on the floor, they took the opportunity to do push-ups. Penn, Verge, and Sashi exchanged looks, but Rippen interrupted their thoughts.

"In just a few small, delicious moments, I shall become a full-time villain!"

"If I could fly again, I would get up there and smack some sense into ya!" Verge called.

"I think you mean full-time loser!" Penn added, smirking.

"How dare you twist my words to the opposite of what I want to say!" Rippen shouted. "But you're too late! Without the scepter, you're powerless to stop Forever Night." There was lightning, and Verge could've sworn she saw the orb glowing an even brighter purple hue.

"We _would _be powerless if it weren't for the mighty wizard Boone!" Penn gestured at the door, as if expecting their owl Wiseman would come barging in with his apprentice at that very moment.

But he was nowhere to be found.

Everyone grew silent.

"…_Haaaaah there he is!" _Penn pointed upwards. Still nothing.

"_The wizard, Boone, who's going to do his thing now!" _Sashi facepalmed. Verge stood awkwardly. "How about now? And _now!_ He's comin' right now! Here he is, Boone! Bam! Yeah!" Sashi sighed.

"This is painful," Verge said adamantly.

Penn glared at the skies. _"BOONE!"  
_

Rippen put a hairy finger to his lips. "Shhh, oh, dear muscular rabbit boy. He's not coming." Verge felt some foxes grab hold of them.

"Where is he?" Verge wondered in a worrisome tone.

"He might be right, Penn," Sashi said, also worried.

"Say what you will about Boone, but somehow he always comes through in the end, you know?"

"I know," Verge said. "I believe in him too."

A fox laughed as he raised his club over the team, ready to strike.

"OK, I might just be quick to lose that belief."

Suddenly, everyone paused when they heard a singing in the air. It was a harmonious acapella tune, that Larry suddenly started dancing to. "Uh-oh! That's my jam! Uh-oh! Legs are starting to move!"

Emerging from behind the fortress was a giant, three-headed purple dragon, who seemed to be singing that song they were hearing. And riding on its back was Boone himself, along with his apprentice. He grinned down at everyone as the dragon struck a pose.

"Oh, of course he would demand a grand entrance!" Verge yelled out.

"Behold!" Boone shouted out as he poured the potion. "The Scepter of Light!"

They watched in awe as it began to glow. Maybe it would work!

"Yeah!" Penn cheered, as Sashi and Verge dealt with the foxes restraining them. "I knew you'd come through, Boone!"

"_Scepter thingy! Do your stuff!"_

He aimed the scepter at the cursed orb, ready to see some magic happen. But instead, a green puff of smoke averted to his direction, and he coughed.

Rippen suddenly began laughing. "That was worth it!" He laughed again.

"No!" Verge cried, trying to fly, but failing once more. "Based from the smell, I think he picked the wrong scrollbook!"

"Wait, what?!" Penn exclaimed. "No, it can't be!"

"_You gave me the wrong scrollbook!"_

"Is that proof enough, Zero?"

As the dragon set himself down, so was the sun. Black wisps started to envelop around the fortress, proving the curse was about to take effect. "This can't be happening," Sashi said, rather quietly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Boone is working things out," Verge said, trying to sound upbeat. "He always comes through, right?" She turned upwards to listen to Boone's conversation with his apprentice.

"I really tried this time, but I blew it!"

"Yeah, you kinda did."

"Because you're just like me! And I couldn't overcome the menace of _you! _It's exhausting!" He blew a raspberry. "Well, now I know why Penn looks so old." At those words, his best friend stared up at him, staggered. "He's a young person and he looks really old!"

"Boone!" Verge yelled out. "Please! Stop stressing over that! We still believe you can do this! I honestly have no inspirational words other than it's seriously all up to you and you gotta pull yourself together to get things through!"

"Gee, thanks a lot, Divergent!"

"You're welcome!"

"Didn't detect the sarcasm, did she…"

"Hey, don't worry," Boone's apprentice reassured. "Things'll work out. I mean, there's still time. Nacho?"

"_No! No nacho!" _Verge shrieked.

"Vergie! Calm down!" Penn yelled back. "But seriously! Boone! This is _not_ the time for nachos!"

For some reason, that alone gave Boone an idea. "Shh, Penn! Yelling will only bring out more wrinkles!" That merely earned yet another glare from the hero. "Maybe it is about the nachos. You see, I've been trying to be someone I'm not. When things get really serious, I always just pull a plan out of my owl butt."

"Can you skip to the part where you get to the point?!" Verge screamed.

"Fools!" Rippen taunted, as the purple mist was closing in. "You're going to have to enjoy your nachos in eternal Forever Night."

"Seriously! Why do they call it eternal, and then still add Forever to the Night? It doesn't make sense!" Now, everyone was looking at her.

"_BOONE!" _Penn shrieked.

As Boone chewed, he then realized something else. "Hey guys, why don't we just knock that round thing off that tall thing?"

Rippen could only watch as the dragon started to fly again, pushed the orb off, and gasp at how the orb just _broke. _The wisps and darkness started to disappear.

"Noooo, it can't be that simple!" Rippen cried.

The dragon started to sing again, and the mice broke out into cheers. "Yeah!" the three heroes laughed as they high-fived each other. As the owls made their way down, Boone's team smiled at him.

"Way to go, buddy," Penn congratulated. "I never doubted you for a second."

"Me neither," Verge laughed, bringing Boone into a headlock and started to noogie him.

"Ow, ow! Easy, Verge, easy! _The feathers, the feathers!"_

The quartet laughed as Sashi pulled the fairy away. "Thanks, guys," Boone breathed. "But I couldn't have done it without Hogarth. I see a lot of promise in this young owl."

Now knowing his name, Hogarth walked up to the ferret and fairy. "Hey, wanna know the best part about braces?"

"No," Sashi said simply.

"We already know," Verge said, nodding at Sashi.

With one grasp of the cape, Sashi flung him out of the fortress, watching him scream. Boone only smiled proudly.

"A _lot _of promise."


	39. To Love or Not to Love

**Special Episode: To Love or Not To Love**

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**Well, it's been a while!**

**IamRockutoo, thanks for the information! I am excited for the upcoming 4 episodes and the new finale! Don't worry, I'm not going to stop here. Which is why I made the last special episode of the whole fic!**

**Wooooooooooo.**

**OK, I may be lying. After the finale, I still promised you guys another episode where Verge gets to know about her real family, yeah? I know the wait is unbearing, and in just a few weeks/months, it'll be up! When Season 1 is over, I promised a sequel. Don't worry guys, I'm not dead! **

**Half the plan is once again made by MusicMesiterLover and it was requested by Charr2003. Thanks again guys, you are all awesome! MML helps a lot and gave me a lot of special episode ideas for Season 2 and Charr is a great reviewer. Thanks guys so much for being a part of my life w**

**When the Season 2 fanfic is up, you guys can request some ideas too! But for now, enjoy the sixth special ep!**

* * *

"Wait a minute," Penn blurted out, halting Verge from speaking as she stared at him. "So what you're saying is, it _is _possible to find a needle in a haystack?"

"Yes, I believe I have made that quite clear."

"Your boring story cause Phyllis ears to go numb," the mechanic called. She was fixing the MUT again before the team would go on their mission that day. Penn and Verge were waiting for their remaining two members. As if on cue, Boone and Sashi entered through the door. "Hey guys, whatchu talkin' about?" Boone greeted.

"Needles and haystacks," Verge replied.

"…Fascinating."

"Technically, I'm using it as a metaphor. I'm trying to teach Zero about love."

Sashi scoffed. "What does _Penn_ know about love, really?" That earned a glare.

"Exactly! Every time we meet a girl in a new dimension, he falls for her."

"OK, that is _not _true," Penn defended as they all took their positions on the platform. Verge snorted as she flew above them. "There was one time…well…" Everyone was silent as they stared at him blankly, watching the boy at a loss for words. "Um, I didn't fall for Amber!"

"That only proved you have no taste." Another glare.

"Honestly, Penn," Boone sighed. "Let's see you find some real love before your very eyes for once."

"Let see you disappear now," Phyllis interrupted, quickly starting the machine as she spoke.

Before they knew it, they were zapped.

* * *

When Penn opened his eyes and looked at his form, he shrieked. _"Ah! I'm a girl!" _Coming to a realization, he paused. "Wait a minute, this isn't the first time."

Verge resisted the urge to laugh as she took one look at Penn's frilly maid outfit. They were in what looked like a kitchen, and the entire team looked and dressed like they were in the French period. Verge wore a simple vintage dress, like the one she wore in the British period, only this looked classier. Boone had long hair and beard in a ponytail, and he was mixing a bowl of cake mix; for whatever occasion was yet to be unknown. Penn had long hair too, but it was in a loose French braid. Noticing how he even had some make-up on, she had to admit she looked pretty as a girl.

"On the bright side," the gold-winged fairy chirped. "You're not the only one gender-swapped."

She then turned to Sashi, who was at the corner of the kitchen, leaning against the wall like a brooding emo kid. She emerged from the shadows and scoffed, for Verge was right. Sashi was dressed up in loose boy's clothing: long-sleeved dress shirt, baggy pants and boots, and even had a loose ponytail. With the sword at her hilt, she looked like a—

"Prince," Penn blurted out (he seemed to be doing that often). A golden crown was sitting atop the gender-swapped girl's head, and Penn blushed at seeing that.

Wait, what?

"Right," Sashi had to agree, nodding. "That's what I am." When she checked the Specs, she added, "And Penn, you are the princess."

"Well, that could've fooled anyone," Boone remarked. He wasn't even kidding.

Sashi continued, "Your original maid got jealous because she wanted to get married to the prince – me. She used dark magic, and now the two of you switched places. You have to switch back before the wedding _tonight—"_

"Tonight?" Verge exclaimed, frowning at the mission at hand.

"Yes. We have to make a potion when saying the reverse spell. We've got the bigger advantage this time. The impostor has to stop us from making the potion, and all we have to do is make it away from here. By the time the wedding starts, we have to be back and say the spell in front of everyone. Or else not only will she have control over the prince, but she'll have control over both kingdoms."

"Sashi's gonna get married?" Verge teased. Out of all that information, that was the first thing she asked.

"I prefer not to think about it," Sashi said tediously.

For some unknown reason, the more Penn looked at Sashi, the more her blushed, so he forced himself to turn away. Verge noticed this immediately, which caused her to tilt her head in confusion. Clearing his throat, the redhead said, "Y-Yeah, OK, let's get on with the mission then. So, how exactly are we going to make this potion?"

"One of us is secretly supposed to be a wizard," Sashi confirmed. "And since the Specs already claimed who I am…"

"Aw, man!" Boone suddenly cried out, bringing his whisk out of his bowl. As it turned out, he wasn't actually mixing ingredient for a cake, but ingredients for the very potion she was talking about. Verge could almost see magical sparkles surrounding his cooking tool. Boone frowned as he waved his whisk, as it slowly turned into his magic wand. "Why do I always have to be the magical one? It's exhausting."

"Deal with it, Wiseman," Verge said.

"The wedding is going to start in three hours," Sashi said finally. "You guys had better mix it up before I—"

"Your Highness!" As if one cue, two knights barged into the kitchen. And quickly ran up to Sashi. They both held worried expressions and the first one sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness! Her Majesty has summoned for you. And let me tell ya, she's not happy!"

"You don't understand!" Verge exclaimed.

"_She _is the princess!" Sashi added, going up to Penn and grasped his shoulders. The boy/girl laughed awkwardly.

Sadly, the knights only stared. "You've got to be joking," the second said simply.

"Sire, please. She is waiting." Without warning, both knights yanked Sashi away from Penn and started dragging her out of the room.

"Sash!" Penn shouted.

"Penn—!" Too late. The door was slammed right behind her.

"How are we going to do this without Sashi?" Verge asked, fretted.

As Penn hesitated, the fairy could tell he was even more worried now. Something was on his mind, and Verge yearned to know. But he trued covering it up by turning to his team, saying, "D-Don't worry, we can do this! We _do _have Boone, and he's close to accomplishing the potion, right buddy?"

"Actually, I'm just starting," Boone corrected, opening his spell book (which was disguised as a cookbook). "I still have to gather the main ingredients. And for a potion this big, I'm sure this will involve _many _different procedures that require a daring quest for us to collect the—Oh, wait. I can find this stuff in the kitchen." He was smiling his usual chilled smile as he shut the book and mixed again.

"Well, great! When you're done doing that, we find a way to sneak into the wedding, we have me drink the potion in front of everyone, and bam, mission accomplished!"

"Easier said than done," the fairy murmured.

"Hey, think positive! We'll save Sashi before we even know it."

_Ring! Ring! _They turned to the sound coming from the wall, and found a bell waving itself frantically. The ringing was followed by a voice. _"The Princess requires her daily tea and crumpets."_

"Now's our chance," Penn continued. "We can see what Rippen is up to."

"And try getting Sashi back early," Verge added. She took the tray that carried a teapot, teacup, and biscuits, before handing it over to the hero. As soon as he took it, she shrunk quickly and flew into his pocket. "Key word: try."

"Good luck?" Boone questioned, still mixing.

They were out before any of them said another word.

It wasn't long before Penn found the Princess' quarters in the large castle they were in. The moment he entered the room, he gasped at how big it was. There was a queen-sized bed in the middle of the room, and was completed with a walk-in closet, personal dresser, and how many other princess stuff that could be found. Like most princess rooms, the entire place was entirely _pink. _Both Penn and Verge shuddered at the sight of how _cheerful_ it all looked. Not to mention the one person that could be sleeping in there was the complete opposite of the room representation. Rippen was staring out a large window, seeming to be in deep thought as he did not even acknowledge his nemesis' presence.

As Penn neared him, he noticed the part-time villainw as wearing a _pink_ dress to match the area. He squinted when the teacher began to laugh. "Well, well, well…look who's at the bottom of the food chain now."

When Rippen turned, both Penn and Verge let out a scream.

Technically, the part-time villain wasn't hideous (that is an understatement), but he certainly wasn't pretty. He looked like his first female form back in the Musical Dimension, only with powder that covered his entire appearance, and it made him look like a clown without a red nose. The blush did not help in covering up that fact, and neither did the lipstick; which was applied way too many times to count. His hair was stacked up high, like a real French period woman, but it didn't look good on him at all. To top it off, apparently he thought it was best to mix black with white and red. It did _not_ work.

The two found themselves staring with identical disgusted expressions, and didn't even bother to hide it. Rippen rolled her his – her, whatever – eyes at them. "Calm down. A little make-up would never hurt anyone."

"I think I got sinusitis just by looking at you," Verge murmured.

"That's not how you get sinusitis."

"Either way," Penn interrupted. "despite all…_that…" _Rippen glared again. "You're still the same, heartless, ol' Rip."

"Perhaps, yes, but maybe the Prince will overlook that." The way he smirked so solicitously, it made Penn livid.

"Why do _you _want to marry Sashi?" Penn demanded, pointing a finger in a rebuking manner. "You don't love her! Him! Whatever!"

"All in a day's work, boy." Then, he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at him. "You _do_ realize this is all just part of the mission." Verge looked up at her friend, an agreeing look on her face.

Penn coughed awkwardly. "Y-Yes, yes, of course."

'_He's stuttering again,' _Verge thought. Penn noticed her thoughtful look and tried to avoid eye contact.

Not even perceiving, Rippen continued on as he turned to the window again. "In just a few hours, the prince and I will get married. The moment we do, _I _will take control, and it will be happily ever after for _me."_

"Not going to happen!" Verge yelled, flying out of Penn's pocket.

"Yeah!" Penn agreed. "Sashi doesn't love you! She'll never agree."

"Boy, you are blind, it is not a matter of love or not. Both our kingdoms will fall into war if she even _dares_ disagreeing."

"If I were the prince, I'd marry her!" The three turned to the door to find Larry dressed up in a knight suit, so he must've been the princess' personal guard. The tiny man kept grinning as he continued. "I mean, seriously, who wants to fall into war? And by the way Rippen looks, the real princess must've a real beauty, I mean, who _wouldn't _want to ma—"

"Yes, we get the point Larry," Rippen dismissed. Verge wasn't sure if it was the blood or the blush on his cheeks.

"W-Well, even still, you can't stop us from making that potion!" Penn countered.

"Maybe so. But _I'm in charge now. _Eventually, I _will _be able to keep you away. And when it comes, _you_ will perish. I could not have a happier ending." The hero and his fairy were only silent at that as they glared. "Now, out. You have duties to attend to, _Maid."_

"What, wait—"

"Sorry, Princess' orders!" With a single grab and shove, Larry took hold of the heroes and escorted them out the room.

Another door was slammed right into their faces.

"We _have_ to do _everything_ we can to save Sashi," Penn declared, his face burning with fury and determination. Verge frowned. She'd never seen her friend so mad before. Except, maybe at the time he shared bodies with Rippen.

"Zero, you all right?"

Penn tried to channel his breathing as he took slow, steady, intakes of air. "Yeah…" Forcing a smile on his face, he turned to Verge. "I don't tell you everything."

That was an understatement. "…Don't worry, we'll figure everything out." Verge tugged at his puffy maid sleeve. "But we'd better go to see how Boone's doing now."

The redhead almost didn't respond. He was staring the ground now, his fists quivering with anger, and Verge had to shake him to get his attention. When he looked at her again, the hero relaxed.

"Right, right…"

They were both silent the entire walk back.

"Behold!" the chef/wizard exclaimed. Boone held up a vial filled with green, bubbling liquid like a trophy, beaming with such pride as he showed it off to the two. Verge stared in awe as the boy continued on. "One bonafide reverse-life switching potion."

"Nice work, Boone," Penn praised, smiling. He liked the fact that he was taking things slightly more seriously, ever since he had that encounter with a lazy apprentice.

"One thing, though. I read in the spell, though. I read in the spell book that to make it work, you'd have to make the spell-caster to look directly into yours eyes before you drink it, or it won't work."

"That's going to be difficult," Verge said. "Considering the fact Rippen doesn't even want you to be in the same room as him when you want him to."

"Do you have any plans?" Penn asked, holding the vial now.

"Well, I think there was a potion for that too when I was looking through the book…" Boone started flipping through its pages again, until he stopped at a certain page. "'The drinker will be able to have all eyes in the room on him, but only ten seconds per sip."

"Well, great!"

"Hold up!" Verge took the book from Boone's hands and squinted at the printed words. "These ingredients are harder to find. They're mostly in the dark parts of the forest."

"Then we'll go get them!" "But what about your 'duties as a maid'?" Boone asked.

"I'm the hero! I should help as much as I can. We're doing this not only for the mission, but for Sashi's sake."

Something in Verge just made her want to snap. Whatever was boiling in her chest wanted to just burst out and unleash itself. But she managed to keep a restrained face, she said, "No. You should stay. People will start to wonder where you've gone."

Penn frowned. "Who will wonder about the maid? I need to."

"_No, Penn," _Verge insisted. "Like you said, you're the hero. Do your job and look after Sashi. _You _make sure she's safe."

The redhead knew immediately that something was up. The way Verge was acting and the way she stared at him so sternly…There was something wrong. But he couldn't bring himself to ask about it. She'd probably scold him even more.

"OK…" Penn finally said slowly. "Obviously this is how you feel." Verge didn't respond.

Without another word, the hero lifted his skirt and practically stormed out of the room.

"Come on, Boone." The Wiseman's eyes widened slightly at how fast the fairy had recovered. "Let's go get those ingredients."

Penn couldn't ask anything, but he'd be sure to bring it up later. "Right."

* * *

"Sashi? You in here?"

When Penn was summoned into a certain room in the castle, he poked his head through the door and looked around. This room was blue instead of pink, and slightly more boyish. There was nothing much to see, but the fact that Sashi was sitting on the king-sized bed, deep in thought. When she heard Penn's voice, her head perked right up and she bolted in her seat.

"PZ!"

Both of them broke into a run and met in the middle of the room, hugging each other tightly. You could imagine some background music playing right now, to make the moment last longer. But once they realized their position, they froze up, pulled away, and stared.

"…Did we just—"

"Never speak of this."

"I'm glad you're here, though," Sashi said, trying to break the tension. "Rippen is making me stay here until the wedding. I can't leave. So I forced the guards to bring you to me instead."

"Don't worry, Sashi," Penn said reassuringly. "Verge and Boone are working on another potion to make sure our plan is foolproof! We'll win again."

"Good."

Penn smiled at Sashi, at least glad she was OK. But shortly after, he frowned. "I'm worried about Verge a little. A while ago, she seemed…different."

"What do you mean?"

"I-I don't know…it's like she was mad at me or something. She was actling like I was—"

* * *

"—Infuriating!" Verge exclaimed. She and Boone were picking some special glowing berries in the forest for the potion, and the fairy finally found time to unravel herself. Boone wasn't paying too much attention, but he still listened as Verge ranted. "I don't understand why he's so redundant: yes, we're going to finish this mission and save Sashi in the end, we get it!"

"Seems to me like someone's _jealous~"_ Boone sang, tugging at a fat, juicy berry. This one seemed very hard to pick, and he was now pulling at it even harder.

Verge blushed a little at his statement. It was a sight to see, the fairy rarely even showed signs of blood. "Jealous of what?"

"Aww, Verge, don't joke with me. I can see right through you."

"Why? I'm not transparent or anything."

"You need to be honest with yourself and ask how you really feel." Out of nowhere, Boone brought out a chainsaw and started using it to cut the stem. Until then, it still wouldn't work, and he was getting frustrated.

"Boone, I have no idea what you're talking about? If you think I'm jealous, you're wrong. I'm just pretty annoyed with the fact that Zero keeps bringing up the same topic over and over again and that's S—"

"Divergent."

The fairy paused, turning back to the boy. Boone rarely used her real name as well. He shook his head slightly at her, and Verge felt her shoulders slump.

"Holy hawks, I'm jealous."

"Wait a minute, I have magic!" Boone brought his wand out, and with a swish of it, the berry popped right of the bush. While he was finally satisfied, Verge groaned.

"Booooooone."

"Look, Verge, you know I'm not a man of feelings."

"No kidding."

"But just ask yourself one more time."

"…"

"…"

"…Ask myself what?"

"I dunno, just ask."

"…Geez, Boone, that's so helpful."

"You're welcome."

Verge took a deep breath and rubbed her temples. "Well, if you say so…Verge? Verge?" The fairy frowned. "…Verge? …Verge."

"Feel better?"

"…Let's just make that potion already."

* * *

Half an hour had passed. Verge and Boone stayed in the kitchen, working on the potion together. Penn tended to Rippen and Sashi at all times, and did not entirely enjoy it. Later on, he had practically collapsed as he entered the kitchen, and his two team members jolted their attention to him.

"OK, I have had a _rough _day, and I've seen Rippen _way_ too many times for me to hate," he wheezed, walking up to them. "The potion had _better _be finished by now, or I'll—"

"It's done," Verge said blankly. She was sitting on Boone's shoulder as he nodded, and held up another vial of potion proudly, only this time it was purple. Penn's eyes widened slightly as he took it.

"Huh. Well, what do you know?"

"Just in time for the wedding," Boone proclaimed, grinning widely. "Oh yeah! Can I get a _what what?"_

Boone held up a fist and Verge quickly bumped it. Instantly, Penn began to frown at that. They just did a tiny fist-bump, and that was his and Verge's thing. He tried not to think about it too much as he forced a smile.

"All right, great! Let's get to the chapel, guys, we have a wedding to stop!"

* * *

We now look at a decorated area, where people from two different locations were gathered to see their rulers stand before them, ready to seal the deal. And by deal, they meant marriage. By binding each other, they bind their kingdoms. And to Sashi, she would _much _rather give up on the former to bring destruction to the latter.

"Do you, dear princess" the priest started. "take this man to be your husband?"

"I do," Rippen said, forcing a smile. Sashi looked ready to barf.

"And do you, dear prince, take this—"

"No."

The crowd gasped.

"…No?"

"No."

"No."

"No."

"We went over this!" Rippen cried out, trying to cover up his anger with a fake waterworks act. "You said that—"

"No."

"But—"

"No."

"Our kingdoms—"

"No."

"Can you say anything else other than no?!"

"No."

Now, Rippen was irated. _"Why you—"_

"Stop!"

Everyone turned to the door to see Penn, Verge, and Boone flying in by pixie dust. Two guards followed in pursuit, glaring at how they got past so easily. The crowd gasped at _that, _Rippen squinted at the heroes, and Sashi grinned happily.

"He—I mean, _she_ is an impostor! That's not the real princess!" Penn cried out.

Whispers filled the room again. Some were doubting, some thought he was crazy. Rippen only seemed to smile and pull another act.

"Oh, such deceivers! Are you all really going to believe the lies of a _maid?" _His words seemed to have enchanting reasoning, because everyone believed him immediately. "Guards, arrest them!"

"What, no!"

The two guards quickly took a hold of Boone's arms, and soon Penn's. More guards entered, ready to take Verge, but she flew upwards and turned larger before they could. Seeing Penn restrained and couldn't do anything, it made her angry. No, _furious_.

"Unhand them!"

Raising her hands up, the ground began to rumble. Up and sprouted from the concrete floor were giant, strong weeds. Everyone shrieked and moved away, as the large plants took hold of all the guards and held them upwards. They were screaming as they got engulfed in the weeds and couldn't even get out. Verge clenched her fists, and tinier weeds stuffed themselves in their mouths. As the gagged on them, Verge's friends grinned up at her. For some unknown reason, Rippen was also smiling.

"Now, Larry!"

With a swish of the hilt of his sword, the little knight bonked Boone on the head, and he was affected immediately. "Mama?" he muttered, before blacking out.

"Whoops! Sorry!" Larry apologized sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Boone!" Penn and Sashi cried.

"Boone!" Verge quickly flew downwards and took Boone in her arms, trying to slap him awake. While everyone was distracted, Larry took hold of Penn.

"Wha—Hey!"

"Sorry, Penn, Rippen's orders!" The knight brought the hero over to the altar, and the priest squeaked and hid behind the table. Rippen let out a hearty laugh as he took the _purple_ potion from Penn's pocket.

"This is what you want, right fairy?"

"Hey!" Larry quickly took Sashi, who had tried punching him, but immediately had both heroes under restraint (the man must've been _really_ strong in that dimension). As they struggled, Larry positioned them so they would be side by side. Verge stared, as a smile formed on Rippen's lips.

"Let _me_ get married, and none of this will ever happen."

"Verge, what is he talking about?" Penn shouted. There was no response from the fairy as all she could do was stay frozen.

"What do you say, Divergent?"

"Penn," Sashi said in a warning tone.

"Verge!" Penn yelled.

"Rippen?" Larry asked.

"Larry," he replied.

"Boone," the Wiseman called out weakly.

"Do you really think I'll fall for that."

Everyone turned to Verge, who seemed to have made up her mind. Jealousy or not, this was _war. _A weed popped out from behind Larry, and pulled him back, causing him to yelp as Penn and Sashi got separated. Verge sent a small gust of wind coming from Rippen's side and the potion flew right out of his hands.

Before he could even decipher what happened, Penn grabbed onto the vial quickly. He popped it open and took one sip.

_Poof._

All eyes in the room were now directed at him. Not only that, but no one could move, as they all stared at the hero, who was ready to make a speech.

"Joke's on you, Rippen." The redhead smiled as he stared dead into the part-time villain's eyes, which seemed to be struggling to turn away from him. He brought out the green potion, and Rippen realized what is was.

"_No, wait, don't—"_

_Poof._

There was a gust of green smoke, and Penn was now is Rippen's pink princess dress, while he was in the maid's. Only, as Penn kept her French braid, Rippen's high hair was now a frizzy mess. _"NO!" _he screamed in agony. It was hard to tell if it was by the hair, or by the fact he lost.

Once Verge set the guards free (by dropping them onto the ground with much intensity), it was Penn's turn to smirk as he pointed at Rippen and Larry. "Guards, arrest them."

As the guards grabbed onto the two, the part-time villain's eyes glared. "What—Stop! _I'm _the princess, I have to get married! Take over the kingdom!"

"Don't worry, Rip, at least we're together!" Larry said, as they were brought away. "Hey, maybe we'll share a jailhouse!"

"_Unhand me now!"_

"Yeah, that's not going to work," Verge said, waving to them. As the guards brought them away, the team was suddenly aware about the fact there were still people in the chapel. Once they finally witnessed everything, there was deafening silence for a good long while before everyone erupted into loud cheers.

On the floor, Boone groaned as he woke up. "What did I miss?" he asked.

"Nothing much," Sashi teased. She looked over at Penn, who smiled awkwardly at her. Now that they were in their right positions, the genderbent teen took her friend's hand in his. Penn was blushing as he held it back. As Verge helped Boone up, she tried to cover up her disappointment.

Penn held out a fist to Verge, smiling as he hoped she would turn smaller and bump it. She didn't. He frowned and lowered his hand.

"Well?" the priest suddenly asked from under the table.

The whole chapel was silent again. "…Well, what?" Penn asked.

"Is there a marriage or not? The kingdoms cannot be bonded unless you two are."

"Oh! Yes." Sashi cleared her throat. "I do." Penn grinned.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the priest said breathlessly. "You may now kiss the bride."

Penn almost doubled over. "Kiss?"

"Yes, of course, that is what the couple does at a wedding."

"Come on, you two, tick tock!" Boone yelled.

Sashi merely shrugged. "Well, it's for the mission."

Penn wasn't comfortable at all. "B-But, I-I—"

"Zero! Come on. Just do it."

When Penn looked over at Verge, he could tell by the look in her blue eyes she was being serious. And when she smiled encouragingly, he honestly couldn't have felt happier.

"OK…"

He turned to Sashi, took a deep breath and smiled once more. "Don't kill me when we get back?"

Sashi grinned. "I'm not making any promises."

As the two leaned forward, there was a blue flash.

* * *

Their lips connected for a whole second as they found themselves back on the platform.

"We're back home guys, save it for homecoming," Boone joked.

The two's eyes snapped wide open, as they pulled away and faked a gag.

"Yes, love is revolting," Phyllis said, turning her back away from them.

Verge had to laugh. "Well, that was a sight to see."

"Was it really, Verge?" Penn asked. "Was it really?"

The fairy froze. She turned to Penn, who was looking at her sadly. The two were just standing there, staring at each other, while Boone and Sashi exchanged glances. They seemed to be having a silent conversation.

Verge let out a long, steady breath. "Can we just…pretend this mission never happened?"

"Huh? O-Oh, um…well, we'll definitely never mention it in front of you," Penn promised adamantly. He looked behind him and locked eyes with Sashi. They too shared a silent conversation, but they didn't even know what to think.

"...May I ask why?"

"I don't tell you everything..." Verge forced a smile and quickly gave Penn a hug. The team's eyes widened. Penn looked over at Boone and Sashi, who shrugged. Though he never minded it before, the redhead still hugged back, but he didn't seem so sure at what he was doing.

When Verge pulled away and walked off, the team exchanged worried looks.

* * *

**And so that's To Love or Not to Love. What do you think Verge chose? Hehe. See you in future chapters~! :)**


	40. The QPC

**Chapter 33: The QPC**

* * *

**AKA Verge's day off. :)**

* * *

"Goodbye, Uncle Chuck," Penn called out as his fairy friend flew above him. "Later, Aunt Rose." In a low voice, he added, "Let's get away from here, Verge—"

Unfortunately, his uncle stopped him. "Hey, Penn station, Vergie. Let's hang for a minute a real talk, shall we?"

The two exchanged a look as Verge turned bigger. "Is this about bathroom safety again?" the redhead asked, scratching the back of his head. "'Cause I will _not_ wear a helmet in there."

"I'm willing to wear gloves, though," Verge piped in. "Could've sworn I saw hawk slime just last week…"

"No, no, you'll get used to that," Uncle Chuck reassured. "But that's not the issue. Your Aunt Rose and I were pretty concerned about your relationship with the Chinchilla."

Verge and Penn exchanged one last look before looking down at the bowl of bath powder. It squeaked as it covered itself in it. As usual, it was looking pretty feisty.

"_You're_ concerned?" Verge mumbled. "You don't even have a proper name for it…"

"We think you could get along better if you spend more time together!" Aunt Rose piped in, taking her tab and adding something to their schedule. "He has a massage at 3 tomorrow, you can both get one!"

"And where will Verge be?" Penn questioned, eyes squinting slightly.

"Where she always is: in your pocket in the changing room."

"That's just cruel, Uncle Chuck," the fairy frowned.

"Also…too bad, we gotta work," Penn said in a not-so-sorry tone. "Yeah, you know with that job where I battle evil to protect all universes? It's kinda important."

"Just. Like. Your dad," Uncle Chuck blamed. "Always going on about how important his part-time hero business is, _news flash, _Pensicola: spending time with the Chinchilla is important too!"

"Oh, boy," Verge sighed, shrinking smaller once again.

To prove Chuck's point, Rose began to break out in song as she picked the animal up: _"Who's that adorable furry creature who's softer than a pilla?"_

Chuck even started joining his wife. _"Someone call the cute police because here comes the Chinchilla!"_

Rose brought the powder-covered animal to Penn's face, and he sneezed. The Chinchilla instantly hissed.

"Well, maybe Penn doesn't have too much time with the little creature, but maybe I do," Verge said. She flew up to the Chinchilla, who was only happy around her, and purred slightly at how she began to pet him. "Maybe I can fill in for Penn today. I can spend time with the little guy."

"Really?" Penn asked, almost too hopeful.

"Sure. I mean…I do love animals."

"Aww, but Detergent," Chuck said, frowning. "You spend almost too much time with him."

"Hey, hey! Not true."

"Well, better you than me," Penn said guiltily. "But what about work?"

"I can skip today, can't I? Like a day off."

"You do realize you have more day offs than anyone in our team, right?"

"Only two days more than zero! Now get to school. We'll meet again tonight."

"Thanks, Verge." He held his fist out and the fairy quickly tiny fist-bumped it.

"Now, hold it," Rose started.

"See you guys!" With that, Penn was out the door, and gone.

Verge was now cuddling with the furry little creature. "They were right, you _are_ cute," she giggled. Uncle Chuck and Aunt Rose exchanged a look.

* * *

"I still want to see if he's available."

"But Verge already agreed to do it."

"What's going on?" The golden-winged fairy entered the kitchen with the little animal later that afternoon, to see that couple was preparing the "Chinchilla Backpack". This only meant they were planning to go somewhere.

"Not that we don't want you around our little baby, Vergie," Uncle Chuck started. "But we just want to see if Penn changed his mind about the massage thing."

"Well, OK, but I don't think he will."

"Won't hurt to try. Also, we were going to bring you anyway. Which way to the Odyssey again?"

Rolling her eyes, she helped place the Chinchilla in its Baby Backpack and they left the house.

By the time they arrived, they saw a flash of blue and a zap. The heroes had gone off to their next mission as they entered through the door.

"Slow that row there, Phyllis lady!" Aunt Rose cried out.

The mechanic only seemed to notice the fact that the fairy was with them. "You are late," she said.

"I'm on my day off, Phyllis," Verge explained calmly.

"Then why is fairy guide here?"

"Penn's my nephew," Uncle Chuck started as he climbed up to get to Phyllis' level. "and I say he needs a massage with the Chinchilla—_Holy mackerel!"_

The uncle and aunt turned to the MUT screen to see Penn fighting some aliens. Or were they trolls? Whatever they were, Verge cupped her hands and screamed out, "Yeah! Get 'em, Zero!"

"Oh, the Chinchilla, look at your cousin in action!" Aunt Rose pointed in awe. But she suddenly stopped when they all turned to the animal. It wasn't in its pack. "The Chinchilla?"

"Hey! Get down!"

The adults gasped as they saw the furry creature chewing on a certain piece of the MUT. It looked angry once again, but for whatever reason was unknown. "You get down now, Mister!" Aunt Rose demanded.

Of course, it didn't listen to her. In just continued damaging Phyllis' property. It took a certain part out of the machine and started _slamming_ it with it. "No!" Verge cried, trying to take it. When she did, it was too late. The part was completely broken and the screen blacked out.

"Ugh!" Verge tossed the piece away and ran to the railing. "Zero?!"

"Well, I'll be—Where's Penn?!" Aunt Rose exclaimed. "Is he OK?"

"He's fine," Phyllis said, going to the machine part. "But I am needing to fix Quadrithium Power Converter cable." She then looked up at clock. It was 4:25. "Of course if I don't fix QPC in one hour, Penn Zero will be lost forever."

"Along with _Sashi and Boone,"_ Verge said in horror. "We have to save them!"

Uncle Chuck looked at his wife worriedly as he stuttered. "You _can_ fix it, right?"

"As long as your ball of rat does not cause anymore—"

She should not have said "ball of rat". Something blasted Phyllis with a green ray, causing her to completely freeze up in a horror-filled statue pose. They looked to see it was the Chinchilla again.

"Oh, you scoundrel," Verge murmured.

Chuck tapped Phyllis, trying to make sure if she could be unfrozen. "…So, that's a bucket to stink."

"We're so hawked!" Verge began flying in circles above them, actually panicking about all this. Aunt Rose reached up and patted her head like a doll.

"Shhh, Vergie, it's OK…let's try to relax here! Phyllis will unfreeze way before the hour is up."

Unfortunately, when she took the ray, it was labeled "Effects last longer than 1 hour."

"_Oh my goodness, we're never gonna see Penn again!"_

"Aunt Rose, snap out of it!" Verge flew out of her arms and gave the elder woman a tiny slap. It was small, but effective.

"Thank you?"

"Don't mention it."

They turned to Uncle Chuck, who still seemed to have a plan on his mind. He sighed as he brought out Penn's MUHU. "Better make a call."

"Where'd you get that?" Verge had to ask.

"Penn gave it in case you burned down the house or something."

"…The devil."

Chuck turned the MUHU on, and a holographic screen opened up as they saw Penn's father fighting a TV skeleton monster on the other line. He was smiling after he stabbed the monster and looked up from his fight. "Hey, Penn, Verge—" Once he realized who was in replacement of his son, Brock Zero's smile dropped. "Chuck. What did you do?"

The uncle and aunt exchanged a quick glance. Verge let out a harsh cough. "Um, Mr. Brock? There's a bit of a problem here…"

"Let's just say…" Aunt Rose started, laughing nervously. "The Chinchilla—"

"Ugh, not the Chinchilla."

"Honey? What's wrong?" Vonnie Zero came into the view and she lit up to see Verge. "Hi, Vergie! What's going on?"

"Your son's stuck in another dimension," Chuck blurted out.

"_What?!" _the couple yelled from the other line.

"Way to break it to them, guys," Verge muttered. "By the way, it was the animal." The Chinchilla hissed at her now.

"_How _could you let this happen?!" Brock demanded. He was mostly glaring at his brother for all this.

"Oh, like you're perfect, huh?" Chuck said, glaring right back. "Mister_ 'I got myself stuck in the Most Dangerous World Imaginable!'"_

"Whoa, guys!" Vonnie said, pulling her husband back. "There is no way _you two_ would be able to fix the QPC in time. Our only hope is to replace it."

Brock tried to calm his nerves. "You need to find a spare."

"Well, great," Verge said, lifting her hands up. "I'm sure some people have MUT parts lying around."

"You _can_ find something," the blonde insisted. "OK? But first, make sure the MUHU battery is charged because it would be _catastrophic _if we lose contact…"

Too late. The hologram died into the MUHU, and Chuck looked at it to see the "No battery" sign.

"What the—" Verge started, just about ready to burst.

Uncle Chuck instantly placed it in its charging station, but it was going to take forever to get ready. "Oh, great!" he exclaimed, even more worried than ever. "What are we gonna do?"

The three were silent.

"Well, we still have fifty minutes," Verge sighed, flying upwards to face the aunt and uncle. "We gotta believe we can do this. For today, I'm _your_ fairy guide, and I will stop at nothing to make sure _you two find the answer—"_

"Oh, yeah!" Chuck yelled out, grinning as a memory came to mind.

"Well, that was easy."

"Thanks for the pep talk, Detergent, but let's move!"

As they bolted out of the building, Verge was shouting, "Please don't call me that!"

Soon, the fairy found themselves nearing the store right beside the Odyssey and she frowned. "What are we doing at the villain's area?" she asked.

"You'll see," Chuck replied as they entered.

Surprisingly, Phil paid no heed to the fact the enemy was there, and lit up when he saw the elder man. "Uncle Chuck! My broknuckle!"

As they fist-bumped, Verge was even more confused. "Whaaa?"

"Chuck, how do you know this guy?" Rose whispered.

"Phil? He's on my bowling team."

"Also, Uncle Chuck is best customer."

"You _got_ to be kidding me."

The old Santa Claus man from earlier encounters was there, wearing a Fish Stick on a Stick hat and carrying a flag, as he ate the revolting food. He grew mad at the fact he wasn't acknowledged, and threw his merchandise away before storming out the door.

"Drama king. He'll be back."

"Well, this explains everything," Verge murmured.

"Why is part-time fairy guide here," Phil asked, now glaring at her presence.

"I don't tell you everything," she snapped. _"Especially _you."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Phil," Chuck interrupted. "We need a Quadre—A Quadra…"

"Quadrinthium Power Converter? I gave only extra QPC to Rippen. I forgot birthday, so I tell him it was hot plate."

"Is Rippen that stupid to fall for something like that?" Verge questioned.

"Yes. Now, he use it to keep his coffee hot at school!" The old man was laughing, but the couple exchanged looks. They looked up at Verge who laughed sarcastically.

"Haha, very funny, very nice story, I forgot to laugh."

"Come on, you two!" Chuck said, taking his wife's hand. "We got forty-five minutes to find that hot plate!"

"I know how to get to the school quicker!"

In less than one second, they arrived in the school hallways.

"Wow, how'd you do that, Verge?" Rose asked.

"The power of words." The fairy smirked maliciously as she looked at me. **((A/N: Way to break the fourth wall, Detergent.))**

She shrunk to a smaller side and hid in the pack with the Chinchilla. They instantly found Rippen's art room and prepared to enter it. However, a certain coach named Egsgard stopped them.

"Where do you two think you're going?"

"Oh, hi there! Y'know, I was just visiting my old off-school friend – good friend of mine – Rippley?"

"Rippen," Verge hissed slightly.

The old coach scoffed. "Like me, Mr. Rippen has no friends. And no one except Rippen is allowed in his room after hours."

"If you're not friends, why do you care?" Aunt Rose asked in a know-it-all tone.

"'Cause guys without friends have to stick together. So beat it!"

"Or else what?" Chuck demanded.

"Or else whistle!"

A loud, piercing shrill sounded out, and the Zeros started to scream as they ran away from the noise. It continued to sound out as they frantically spoke together an threw themselves in a janitor's closet.

"What the dust was that?" Verge frowned, flying out. The Chinchilla that had to share its pack with her also hissed.

"Come on, we need an alternative," Chuck said, looking around frantically. "OK, give me this, let me see…"

He reached up on a drawer and saw a can of paint. A gleam passed his eyes and he instantly lit up. "Rose, you, Verge, and the Chinchilla wait for me outside Rippen's office. I've got a plan."

"What is it, Uncle Chuck?" Verge asked.

"Don't worry, just trust me. Meet me in a few minutes."

So they went outside. Verge had no idea what was happening, but later on, the old man had somehow managed to get into Rippen's art room and opened the window for his family to get in. The fairy was smirking when she saw the uncle's disguise. "Long story," Chuck smiled back when he noticed her gaze.

"OK," Aunt Rose started. "Find that QCP and get out."

"QPC," Verge corrected, starting to fly and look into drawers.

Suddenly, they saw the Chinchilla had fallen into an art globe. The three whirled to it, eyes widening slightly, when the noise he made caused someone from outside to call out. _"Mr. Rippen? Are you OK?"_

"Someone's comin'!" Rose hissed.

She grabbed Verge and they dove into the back of the desk.

"Hey! Aunt R—"

"Shh."

When the person entered the room, Verge recognized the voice as Penn's music teacher. "Why, Mr. Rippen, you're here late!"

"This is so awkward," Verge murmured, knowing she was talking to Uncle Chuck. Aunt Rose nodded, scrunched her nose up, and kept silent.

"Oh, yes, yes, then I am, I a—yes I am, yes isn't that right! I forgot something…"

As they talked, Rose was looking inside the desk drawers and found an awkward picture frame with a picture of Rippen, Larry, and some king. She set it down and looked into the final drawer, grinning when she saw the QPC box. "Yes!" Verge exclaimed. She quickly tiny fist-bumped her aunt as the Chinchilla climbed onto her back.

"Are you trying to work up the courage to ask a certain music teacher out to dinner tonight?"

As the girls tiptoed past them, Uncle Chuck was trying to keep distracting the teacher. "Uh, yes! Sounds wonderful! Just splendid! Let's have tea. I'm from England!" When he saw his family leave, he decided it was time to do the same. "Well then meet me in front of the Fish Stick on a Stick in an hour! Toodles!"

With that, he was out the door, and he met with his family soon after.

"Nice going, Uncle Chuck!" Verge had to praise.

"I. Can't believe. That worked," Rose admitted as she opened the box. However, when she did, she began to grow furious. _"You've gotta be kidding me!_ He lent it to Larry?!"

"More like he stole it," Verge murmured, reading the note in the box.

Before she could read it aloud, they heard a rustling in the bushes and saw Coach Egsgard pop out. "Hey, you're not Rippen! Taste whistle!"

They quickly high-tailed for Larry's house the moment the shrill was heard again.

"We got less than half an hour!" Rose panted. "We gotta get to Principal Larry's!"

"Luckily, I know where he lives," Verge said.

"How are we going to get there in limited time?" Chuck questioned aloud.

"Fairy dust!" The tiny winged created smiled widely. She summoned a ball of her special dust, and sprinkled it over her aunt and uncle. They were lifted a few inches slowly off the ground, but that was all they could go. If anyone saw them fully flying, they'd be in trouble.

Still, they enjoyed the moment.

"Great, Vergie!" Rose cried out, grinning at the experience. "Come on!"

They arrived at Larry's mansion sooner than they expected. Verge quickly hid in with the Chinchilla again. They landed on his front porch safely, and a butler was there to answer the door when they rang the bell. "Are you here to interview for the butler's butler position?" an old man asked.

"No, I'm not here to apply—" Chuck started.

"_I_ amhere to apply!" Rose interrupted, deeming a fake smile. "This guy's…my…agent!"

The old man began to smile. "My word! You must be in high demand to have an agent! This way, please."

He gestured for the two to enter the mansion, and they almost gasped at the many people also in line for the job. They quickly went for a silent conversation.

"Go find the QPC thingamajig while I interview for this job thingamajig." Uncle Chuck snapped his fingers in agreement with his wife's plan, and he, Verge, and their animal went to have a look around.

"Where do you think the part could be, Vergie?" Chuck whispered.

"Well, in the note it did mention it being a replacement for an elephant teacup heater," the fairy mused. "So, I think I have an idea."

They then arrived at a playroom. You would think it was for babies, but it was actually Larry's pet Tony's sleeping area. When Verge grinned and found the QPC underneath the resting animal, Chuck lit up instantly. They walked up to the snoring elephant and grinned to each other.

"It's OK, little fella," Chuck began, reaching for the QPC. "I'm just gonna borrow this for a seco—_Ow!"_

Tony had slapped his hand with his trunk. Chuck frowned. "Just give me—_Ow!"_

Another slap. Growing frustrated, he tried once more, but Tony took the man's hand and judo-flipped him upside-down into a chair.

"OK, Tony," Verge started, also reaching out. "Just let us—"

In the end, he judo-flipped her tiny body too.

"You are _so _off my Cute Animal list!"

The Chinchilla watched as his family got flipped over and turned to the animal. It had its usual angry expression, but now it looked serious. Slamming his fist into his palm, he beckoned Tony the Elephant for a real fight. It only smiled, as the furry creature let out a battle cry and charged.

The two animals fought, with Tony mostly thinking they were playing, and Verge seized the opportunity to go human size and take the QPC while it was unguarded.

"Well, whaddya know?" Chuck chuckled as Verge held the machine part. "Mission acc—"

The sound of a siren began to fill the room and red lights started flashing everywhere. _"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" _a voice rang out.

"Whoa, whoa!" Verge cried, turning smaller again as her uncle took the QPC. "I think we're in trouble. Let's go, Uncle Chuck!"

"_Way ahead of ya, Detergent!"_

Taking the Chinchilla, the man began to run out the room. They met up with Aunt Rose, who was also running away from the butlers. "I look forward to your decision!" the woman called out to them.

The applicants were confused as they saw the chase, but then they heard the big announcement: "Whoever apprehends those hooligan's first gets the butler's butler job!"

And so, before they even knew it, they caused an angry mob.

They had just passed a hardware store, and the angry mob really did look angry now, with all their pitchforks and torches. To make things worse, a police car started following them.

"I wish Penn could see us now!" Chuck had to laugh. His wife grinned back.

"Can't we speed up?" Verge yelled out.

"Can't! These legs aren'ts as they used to be, you know!"

"I know!"

"Can you use your fancy dust to get us to fly again?!"

"Can't! This time there are people watching! But…"

Lifting a hand, the fairy summoned a strong gust of wind and struck it at the mob's faces. They coughed, as dust got into their eyes and mouth, and had to stop to get it all off. Tis gave them the opportunity to take a quick turn into a dark alley. The moment the mob had recovered, they continued to chase. But they didn't realize they just passed by the people they were chasing. As soon as they left, Uncle Chuck held his fist out to his back.

"Nice work, Vergie," he whispered, grinning as she tiny fist-bumped it back.

"Extra dessert for you tonight!" Aunt Rose added.

"Aw, yes!"

They burst into the cinema and climbed back up the higher level. The MUHU was now fully charged, and the older woman turned it on. Brock and Vonnie Zero immediately answered the call.

"Ms. Vonnie, Mr. Brock!" Verge cried out, flying off the pack.

"Look, guys, look!" Uncle Chuck practically yelled, holding the QPC up and pointing. "We got the Quadrithium Hot Plate Power Converter!"

"Great!" Vonnie exclaimed excitedly. "That was the easy part."

"You've gotta be kidding," Verge murmured.

"What's the hard part?" Aunt Rose asked bluntly.

"Installing it," Brock replied. "One wrong move and—" He cut himself off, choking. The three on the other lined, held in a breath. "Ugh, sorry, a fly just flew in my mouth, where was I? Oh, yeah. One wrong move and you'll turn Middleburg into _dust!"_

"That's awfully reassuring!"

"Don't worry, Divergie. Just believe you can do it!"

Uncle Chuck and Aunt Rose exchanged worried looks and back at the fairy. She sighed. "Go on, Uncle…"

He was afraid she'd say that. "Mmkay…"

Chuck walked back over the wall, where the outlet for the QPC was waiting. He stared at the clock, which read 5:23. They had two minutes. Without even looking the part over, he placed the QPC in carefully.

But they were on the wrong sides.

Suddenly, there was shaking of the Earth. Blue sparks flew out the QPC, causing it to glow, but not in the good way. The family gasped, and even Brock and Vonnie started running away. Phyllis' metal stereo heads appeared and started flashing. _"It is end of world! Good luck! It is end of world! Good luck!"_

They could almost feel the entire universe collapsing. The planets were about to break, rip to shreds, crumble to sand. The sky was glowing even brighter, as blue sparks were filling the sky. And yet the three didn't notice. They couldn't do anything about it.

"What did we do wrong?!" Verge yelled out.

"I don't know!" Chuck yelled back.

The Chinchilla knew. Like a brave, heroic, Tarzan-like hero, it swung in on a rope, squeaked its usual stubborn squeak and expertly flipped the QPC sides. Almost instantly, the sparks died down. Verge could feel everything turn back to normal. The planets were reconstructing, and the sky was dimming its usual color. The chaos was over.

"_It is end of world…"_

"Wow," was all Verge could say as they all stared at the animal. "Well. If you broke it, you fix it." She ruffled the animal's head, and it started squeaking happily at her once more.

Phyllis only then unfroze at that moment. She gasped, only now realizing what happened and shook her head. "Phyllis, you're all right!" Verge said, grinning. Chuck and Rose also smiled, glad to know that. The Chinchilla, however, hissed.

Not even acknowledging that they acknowledged her revival, the mechanic pressed some buttons, pulled the lever, and Penn, Boone, and Sashi came out of the MUT, safe and sound. The Zero family grinned even wider to see them.

"What took so long?" Penn asked, as the team got off the platform.

"Zero!" Before he knew it, Verge had flown off the higher platform, turned bigger, and tackled her friend into a hug. He almost toppled over, but he regained balance. He was especially confused at why she was doing that in the first place. "I'm so glad…you're…" The fairy couldn't even finish her own sentence.

"Um, yeah? Hi?" Deciding it was impossible to understand Verge in the first place, he smiled and patted her back. Boone and Sashi got even more confused when Verge started hugging them. But not before Uncle Chuck and Aunt Rose went over and hugged their nephew.

"Oh, Penn, you're OK!" Aunt Rose cried, sandwiching him.

The redheaded boy stood, utterly dumbfounded. But then, there was a voice outside.

"_Come out with your hands up! We got you surrounded!"_

"Uh-oh," Verge muttered, as the couple exchanged looks once more.

"Uhh…" Penn said awkwardly. "What's going on here?"

"Hey, Penn?" Uncle Chuck began, putting an arm around his wife. "Uncle Chuck and Aunt Rose are gonna go away for a few days."

"On the bright side, you three can spend more time together!" Aunt Rose added.

"Aww, we'll miss you guys," Verge smiled, going over to hug them. "Thanks for everything."

"Today was fun, Vergie," Uncle Chuck admitted, smiling softly. "We should really hang out ore often too."

"Seriously!" Penn exclaimed. "What is _happening?!"_

The Chinchilla only hissed, as it held up another gun.

"_Whoa whoa whoa wait!"_

* * *

**Hope you guys can wait for the upcoming episodes! They might take a while :)**


	41. Shirley B Awesome

**Chapter 34: Shirley B. Awesome**

* * *

"_Keep your circuits open. They're here somewhere. I can feel it." _Four robots littered the inside of the Odyssey, as the light was dim, and barely anything could be seen in the darkness.

"_Hehehehe…"_

"_Shh! Quiet!"_

"_Sorry."_

"…_If you're gonna be loud, make your laugh more insane-like."_

"_Oh! Right."_

A loud, hushed whisper of a chuckle sounded out throughout the room. The robots there quickly looked around. _"What was that?" _one asked.

The moment it opened its mouth, the flutter of wings passed it, followed by a razor-sharp object cutting it in half. The bots jolted back.

"_What was that?" _

Just then, the robot from earlier was suddenly dragged into the blackness.

"_They're outbreak!" _its teammate cried out.

The same robot's head was torn off its body and was tossed onto the ground. One robot began to hyperventilate. The other slapped it.

"_Pull it together! She's just a little girl."_

"And a fairy."

Before the bots knew it, another razor hit them, only later finding out that they were wings. Once they were hit, Sashi came right in and slammed them together. They exploded and crumbled to dust right before Verge's eyes. The two girls grinned proudly and did a high-five.

"Training simulation complete. Sidekick and Fairy Guide victorious." Phyllis brought the lights back on and began to clap. "This is not sarcastic applause. Very impressive."

"Thanks," Sashi said.

"That was _really _fun!" Verge agreed.

"Matter of life and death is fun?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"We just wish our coworkers would just show up for practice," Sashi admitted.

"Yeah, same here…What exactly are Zero and Boone up to?"

"I'm sure they are very busy with important life things," Phyllis assured.

"_Heigh-ho, Boone!"_

At that very moment, a laughter filled the air as Penn riding Boone on all-fours came barging into the abandoned cinema. Boone was making random horse noises as he walked onto the platform. Penn chuckled as he got off. Verge and Sashi exchanged knowing looks.

"Whoa, whoa there fella! Good boy, have some sugar cubes."

Boone pretended to be stupid, and slobber over Penn's hand. He was still laughing as he swept his hand away, and Boone's saliva hit Sashi. She was even more annoyed. Verge quickly tried wiping it off her Specs, but the brunette couldn't restrain herself. "You guys missed practice _again."_

"What do you mean?" Boone asked with his chilled tone. "I was practicing being a horse."

Penn smiled in agreement. "And _I _was practicing being a giraffe _riding _a horse, so…"

"When is that going to help in anything?" Verge asked. "That's useless."

"You never know, Vergie."

"That won't help you be a better hero," Sashi contradicted.

"I'm a _part-time _hero. I only need to be a hero _part _of the time!"

"A _real _hero should be a _full-time_ part-time hero _all _of the time."

"_Sorry, Sash, that's just not who I am! _…That was just my giraffe voice."

"Once again…_useless," _Verge sighed.

Then they were zapped.

* * *

They all stood up to see themselves surrounded by lots of green leaves. Verge looked down at herself and saw that she was wearing some sort of military uniform. Her whole team was wearing something with similar colors. "Let me guess," Penn said. "We're an elite special forces unit on a deadly jungle mission of doom."

Sashi looked at herself too. "Actually, we're action figures. In a backyard."

"Wow!" Verge exclaimed. "I'm actually in my fairy size."

"Don't go big," Boone said. "Go home." He chuckled at his own joke, and wasn't even surprised when no one laughed.

"Cool! A bazooka!" Penn exclaimed.

"Cool! A frying pan!" Boone tried reaching for it, but his arms wouldn't let him. He found the technique in his toy structure and proudly twirled it.

"OK, so check the Specs?" Verge questioned, grinning and ready to seize the day.

"We are from the Kick-Bad-Guy-Butt division of the Plastic Forces Toiler. Our owner is a kid named Greg whose birthday present, a remote control helicopter, has been stolen by the rogue Jerk Squad. Our mission is to retrieve the helicopter before the jerks can activate it and use it to steal the toys from all the kids in the neighborhood."

"Got it!" Penn dropped to the ground, picked up a stick and began drawing. "OK, here's the plan. Come in like this, we move this around—"

He stopped when someone walked over and smudged his draft with her foot. "Hey! I'm drawing here!" he exclaimed immediately.

The action figure pressed a button on herself and she slapped Penn hard. He tumbled back, as his head rattled. "Whoa," Verge murmured.

"That's 'Hey, Ma'am!'" the action figure demanded. She shouted at him with such discipline, Verge was almost tempted to obey. "Soldier, you are addressing your commanding officer, General Shirley B. Awesome!"

Penn just raised an eyebrow at her.

"_We _have a mission to accomplish! The rest of our unit were lost in Sleepaway Camp. We're all that's left! And I won't let Greg down!"

"May I suggest a plan that involves Random Cook's frying pan, ma'am?"

"Do I look like a paper box with an envelope slot?"

"Uhh, no/what does that mean?"

"It _means, why _are you treating me like a suggestive box?!"

"Ooh, she got you good," Verge giggled. Penn rolled his eyes.

"And you!" Shirley turned to the fairy with an extended finger. "Why are you flying? Action figures _do not fly. _Are you a _man or a mouse, soldier?!"_

Verge suddenly dropped to the ground, stood up straight, and tried speaking in the most determined face. _"I do not tell you everything, ma'am! Also, I do not understand that question, ma'am!"_

"We are doing this _my_ way! I'd rather handle this mission by myself. But we have a day to save. So fall in line!"

"Like this?" Boone grinned, marching in place.

"No." Shirley B. Awesome spin-slapped him again. "Let's move out!"

As she walked away, Verge hovered in the air again. "She terrifies me," she murmured.

"She's _awesome,"_ Sashi breathed, smiling.

They all followed the officer.

The team had to go through a series of dodging and passing through obstacles. One of those was some kind of grill, and the girls expertly jumped over it. Verge flew, while the boys had some trouble. They continued to cross the backyard, making their way over to a garden near the treehouse of the Jerk Squad.

"_Roundhouse kick!"_

"_Karate chop!"_

"_Roundhouse kick!"_

"_Karate chop!"_

"_When are they going to stop singing their moves punch!" _Verge mocked, slapping away a leaf. Penn and Boone chuckled, but then the fairy joined the girls in hiding.

As they made sure the coast was clear, Shirley motioned for Boone and Penn to follow. They ran across the lawn, making it safely to the next hiding place. Shirley and Sashi ducked and rolled, checking the coast once more. Verge flew above them, looking worried for a moment.

"Hey, Penn, high-five."

The girls whirled around to see Penn and Boone using gloves for their disguises. They laughed as they jumped in the giant handwear. The girls were not amused. Sashi gestured upwards and Shirley nodded in confirmation. Verge gave Sashi a lift, and they cupped their hands over their eyes once they saw a view of the yard from above. The bottom treehouse was surrounded, by airway was wide open.

"The helicopter's a two o'clock, general," Sashi announced, as she dropped down without the fairy this time.

"They have the perimeter surrounded," Verge added. "They're armed and everything."

"It's nice to have _some people_ on this mission who's not acting like a preschool toy." Penn and Boone smiled awkwardly. "Now, here's the plan—"

"General Shirley B. Awesome."

Penn cut in between her and Sashi, and the dark-haired general raised her hand.

"_Permission to finish speaking before you slap me, ma'am."_

She lowered it.

"Huh…OK…"

As Penn explained his ideas, Verge was looking around the area, most especially up at the treehouse. The entrance was wide, but high. Perfect for fairy dust to be useful at the moment. But what about the guards? Maybe Penn's plan could help. Charging in just like that would be very dangerous, especially when they didn't have enough people. And the very of idea of that was just being said aloud.

"Now, here's my plan. I'll sneak in, take out the enemy one by one. Then when the hard work is done, I'll signal you guys, by making a noise like a British ambulance like this. _Dee doo, dee doo!"_

"You've got to be kidding me," Verge murmured.

"Then, I fly us all back to Greg's yard! _Boom!"_

"General—" Verge began, but Penn beat her to it.

"Yeah, cool. Uhh, you know what why don't we vote on it? Yeah my plan or Shirley's. Who wants Shirley's, raise your hand."

Of course, the General voted for herself. But so did a certain brunette. Penn gasped. "Sashi…"

"Sorry, Penn. I like that she wants to do things like a real hero." When she smiled up at the general, Shirley smiled back.

"Girl, you remind me of myself when I was fresh out of the packaging. Now out of my way!"

"General, wait," Verge tried, flying forward. "Your plan is too risky. You can't possibly take them out one by one! It's dangerous, and you might—"

"You did not ask permission to speak, soldier. And if I need a toy that will judge me, I'll call _you. _Which means I _never_ will. You think you're so smart, huh?"

"N-No, I—"

"To think I paid my respects for about a second."

This caused Verge to frown, and her wings to lower themselves sadly. But the General turned away.

She then left to fight. However, Penn was still disappointed, and felt betrayed. Verge flew over next to him, frowning as well.

"Sorry, guys," Sashi repeated. But she didn't sound sorry. She disrespected orders and went to join the general.

"Don't let it get to you, Zero," Verge said after a while.

"Thanks, Verge… Hey, Shirley was wrong about you."

"Thanks…"

"…Maybe I _should_ be more like Shirley." Penn frowned again as he watched the two girls fight. "Old, fearless…"

Suddenly, they saw the two get caught in a trap.

"And completely wrong," Verge added.

"Not so good with nets, though," Boone put in.

"We have to save them. We need to go with your plan, Zero."

"But Shirley said—"

"Look where it got her! I knew from the start barging in was a bad plan. I could tell that you clearly have more experience than her."

This made Penn smile. "You think so?"

"No, I just said I _know._ Here's the deal. We're gonna go with your plan. And to get in, we'll use my fairy dust. What do you say?"

"I'm all for it," Boone said quickly, beaming for he was going to be using his steak after all. Penn smiled shortly after.

"OK."

It wasn't exactly hard to get captured. Once all the fallen toys from earlier were revived, they walked up to them. The Jerk Squad stood at attention, ready to shoot their guns this time. "It's OK!" Verge shouted. She made sure to tuck her wings in, so they wouldn't see who she really was. "We come in peace! We surrender! We give up!"

Some of the toys thought it was a trap. But the dumb ones came forward and immediately took hold of them. "Oh, no, you caught us!" Penn said in a mock voice.

"General Jerkface, sir, we captured two enemy troops, sir!" a toy said into a giant walkie-talkie.

"Whoa, you guys can get those?" Boone said, amazed. "Plastic Forces barely get anything."

"Boone," Penn began.

"Prisoners do not talk," a squad member warned.

"Oh, like we're going to just blab out if we have a plan to escape," Verge rolled her eyes.

"It's probable. For all we know…you could be talking in code."

"What the dust…"

"Hey, guys!" Larry's voice called out, as the said toy had come down from the treehouse and came up to them. "Thanks for surrendering and all that! Rippen would love to win for once."

"Uh, sure!" Verge forced a smile. "There's always a day when you have to take turns in something…"

"But before you win…" Penn smirked as he gestured with his head. Boone reached over and held up the crayon steak. "We want to have one cooking contest before we end this mission. Why don't you taste our food?"

Larry fell right for that, and began speaking in the giant walkie-talkie like a fangirl. "Rippen, we're having a cooking contest! And they made me the judge, haha!" The other members were confused, but Larry still took the plate and held up a fork.

"Now," Verge said, as they began walking backwards.

"Penn, Boone, and Verge are backing away, so the troops can get a good view of me tasting this plastic, inedible steak."

"_La—"_

The moment he bit it, the bomb exploded in everyone's faces, and the three Forces watched in awe. But now was not the time to sightsee. After quickly sprinkling them with fairy dust, the boys began to fly up, and they all flipped into the treehouse with ease.

Once posed, they all glared at Rippen.

Rippen only smirked and shot his acorn hand at them. It bounced off, and hit a Squad member instead. Rippen tried again with sponge missiles, but the tree of them dodged easily. Verge got to Rippen first and tackled him to the ground, punching his face like a bag. As he was distracted, Penn picked Larry's head up.

"Boone, spatula, now!"

The cook threw the utensil, and it stuck out of the ground like a hand. Penn jumped onto it, and he spun in the air. _"Spatula attack!"_

As Verge moved away and Rippen stood up, Penn brought down Larry's head into his hand bazooka, clogging up all the missiles. The enemy could no longer shoot.

"Yes!" Verge and Penn grinned and did a tiny fist-bump.

The boys then properly untied the girls. "To the helicopter!" Shirley commedanded, grinning with pride.

However, as they ran forward, Sashi realized something. "Where's the remote control?"

"It's right over here!" They looked up to see Rippen on top of what looked like a bomb (that could be from Star Wars…) "If I can't have the helicopter, no one will." He started the bomb, and it began counting backwards…

_1:59…1:58…_

"_Hyah!" _Shirley flipped and spun for the bomb. _"Roundhouse kick!"_

It didn't work. The remote was still tied down. Rippen laughed. "You can't defeat me alone." He prepared to shoot Larry's head.

"She doesn't have to!"

From above, Verge whipped his head with a vine. Boone followed, using his pan to slap his face. Sashi kicked him upwards, and Penn used his bazooka to blast him to bits. Now the only problem was the bomb.

"This child-safe toy knife is having no effect!" Boone cried, trying to cut the binds that held the remote.

"That's high-grade dental floss, that's why!" Rippen's head said. "You'll never cut through it." He laughed menacingly.

_1:46…1:45…_

"You know what, you're a funny guy," Shirley said sarcastically.

"Really? No one's ever said that."

"And they won't, because you're not." Verge and Shirley just randomly said that together, and they looked at each other in surprise. They smiled knowingly, as they came to an agreement.

"_You're stupid." _

Shirley kicked the heads away, and Verge whistled. A squirrel from earlier came right over and ate the heads whole.

"_No—!"_

"Yikes." Penn and Boone made a face of disgust.

Shirley attempted to pull at the floss, but it was no use. She hesitated, and a sudden idea came to mind. "Get in the helicopter. I'll fly you home."

"What?!" Verge exclaimed, flying over. Even the boys were shocked.

"We won't leave you!" Sashi cried out.

"That is an order!"

The girls exchanged looks of concern. But they knew why they were here. They knew what had to be done. With all the strength they could muster, they saluted their leader and spoke together. _"Yes, ma'am."_

The general saluted back.

"We gotta go," Penn said, frowning. He placed a hand over Verge's shoulder, and she took it. He directed the girls to the helicopter, and Shirley operated it to lift them in the air.

As they hovered above the yard, Sashi and Verge could only look back at the tree.

_1:14…1:13…_

Shirley had turned the stereo on and began speaking through the controller's mic. _"If I can, I'll fly you over the neighbor's pool. I saw it once when Greg threw me in the air. And it was _spectacular."

Sashi was tearing up as Penn and Boone had their heads down. Verge was expressionless, which was one of the ways of saying she was breaking down inside.

"_For once, I felt like a, a real person…Like a little six-inch person."_

_0:09…0:08…_

They landed on the ground safely, but the moment they were getting out, they heard it.

_0:03…0:02…0:01…_

_Boom!  
_

Sashi frowned as she lowered her head.

"I'm sorry, Sash," Penn said, placing a hand on her shoulder this time. If Verge could shrink any more, she could've sat on her shoulder in comfort. But all she could do was awkwardly pat her helmet. "Shirley was a real hero…"

"I'm sorry too, PZ. A real friend should be a full-time friend _all_ of the time. And I was pretty part-time about it this time."

"You know, I couldn't really follow that, but it sounded nice." When he smiled,the brunette couldn't smile back.

"Hey, Sashi?" Verge said. "If it makes you feel any better…I found a doctor."

"Wait, what?"

The fairy then moved forward, and spread her arms wide at the many action figures that were gathered at the backyard. It was the rest of the Plastic Forces. The troop doctor walked forward and smiled. Verge tried looking upbeat, but the rest of her team was still dumbfounded.

"They—"

"Like the General said, they were at camp. _Asleep. _Anyway, we don't have much time."

"I understand." Penn nodded at Verge, once again sharing a silent conversation. After Verge sprinkled him once again, Boone and Sashi were confused as they flew away.

"Where are you guys going?" Boone asked.

"Just wait for us."

While the remaining two members tended to other matters – getting them informed, having Greg get his helicopter back – Penn and Verge returned soon with what looked like…body parts? Boone, and Sashi gasped when they lowered down the body of Shirley. Now realizing what Verge'd said earlier, Sashi shouted out, _"Medic!"_

It didn't take long to put the general back together again. Once the final part was in place – her head – Shirley's eyes opened up. She put a hand against her forehead. "What happened?" she asked.

"The Doctor put you back together!" Sashi said cheerfully.

"Be careful," he advised, as they helped her up. "Your parts will come off much easier now."

"I can't believe it," Shirley said breathlessly, as she looked at Penn and Verge guiltily. "You came back for me?"

"That's what friends do." Penn and Verge didn't even notice the fact they said it together. General Shirley smiled widely at them. It was almost as if she was about to cry. Tears started to threaten her eyes.

"_Thank you! I'm deeply touched!"_

"Ow," Verge muttered, rubbing her ears.

"OK," Penn said quickly. "Yeah, you're welcome. Don't have to yell, uh…I'm inches away." Still, he smiled politely.

* * *

**4 more episodes to go! **_**Mattekudasai~! **_**I'll post the new eps as soon as I can :) **

**Btw, special shout-out to IamRockutoo, a new reader! Thanks again for supporting so much ^^**


	42. Massive Morphy Merge Mechs

**Chapter 35: Massive Morphy Merge Mechs**

* * *

**This was a weird episode, I'll admit… *-***

* * *

"Hey, Boone, Sashi," Verge started. She was sitting on Penn's shoulder as usual as they were on their way to the Odyssey. "Wanna hear a weird story?"

"I love weird stories," Boone grinned.

"Ugh, don't even try, Verge," Penn groaned.

"Too late." The team walked into the Odyssey, ready to check in with their time cards. "So, remember when we had to get a massage with the Chinchilla? I think it got _really_ used to it. Last night was _really_ weird, spent the entire in our room."

"And I woke up to find the Chinchilla sleeping on my nose," Penn said, disgusted. "I mean, that was three days ago. I can still smell it…"

"On the bright side, we got scented candles for that day."

They opened the doors to come across a bright light and honking noises. They all braced for impact, but nothing came. The four opened their eyes to see Phyllis and her bear in a car on a treadmill. "No license, so cannot drive on street," Phyllis explained. "But there is no law stopping me from drive on treadmill. Right Karen?"

"This is a whole new level of dangerous, isn't it?" Verge frowned.

"Phyllis, how are you zapping us on a mission if you're driving?" Sashi asked.

"Eject seat, of course."

Before anyone could stop her, she was plummeted out of her seat and into the air. No one was steering now, so the team jumped out of the way while the car drove off the treadmill and flown into the streets.

"Like I said…whole new level of dangerous. Is it me, or is everything I'm noticing coming true nowadays?"

"Good luck."

* * *

"_I'm flying!"_

"But you always could fly."

"I know, but the feeling's mutual!"

Penn chuckled, but only then noticing how robotic their voices sounded. "Sash, am I a high octane alien space plane, 'cause despite not knowing what octane actually is, that's how I feel!"

"Affirmative, PZ!" Sashi's voice from below called. "Now eat _my _octane! _Woo-hoo!"_

At the moment, Penn was a plane, Sashi was some sort of army tank, and so was Boone. Verge was a yellow and black helicopter. They were in some place called Planet Tekiar, and it looked so deserted. As Verge and Penn laughed and did loops in the air, they could only feel how putrefying the dimension was, and it constrained them from having any real fun.

"How am I supposed to blow my nose when it's twenty feet long? It's allergy season, for Pete's sakes. _Ah…ah…poo!" _When he sneezed, he succeeded in shooting a missile at a building. It blew up. "Yes! Whoa! My tank snot is formidable!"

"Sashi? Checkio Specio?" Penn said.

"OK. The pollution from a one hundred thousand-year war has made this planet unlivable. Our side settled in life pods that orbit around the planet, while our enemies retreated underground. A small patch of land with breathable air has just been discovered. We must claim this 'Life Zone' before our enemies."

Boone began to smile widely. _"This _reminds me of my favorite video game, 'Excessive Destruction 4: Wreck Everything **((A/N: Yeah, Boone, it also reminds me of Voltes V)) **except the graphics like, aren't as good. I mean, look at that robo-tiger firing missiles at us."

That tiger just happened to be Rippen, and it _was_ shooting missiles. "Whoa!" Verge shouted out, as she mostly dodged them. Boone was still smiling and shaking his head.

"_So fake."_

"We gotta get outta here," Sashi said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Verge smirked. "Let's find that zone."

As Rippen fired more missiles, the team turned away and sped off.

Penn turned back, grinning as they were getting away, but it seemed Rippen and Larry were still talking.

"If you stop saying 'hint, hint' I'll give you tea for your birthday."

"I want it to be a surprise!"

"Then why give me a hint?"

Penn decided to drop in on their conversation. "Hey you know what, we're just gonna go ahead and claim that Life Zone while you two work things out, but you should really learn how to communicate better." He flew beside Verge and over Boone. "You just gotta sync. Like us."

Frustrated, Rippen sent more missiles. "Sash, you wanna get this?"

The war-like car turned around and started firing its guns at the rockets. They all exploded before they could reach their group. "You see that, Rip?" Penn taunted as they continued on. "In sync!"

"Oh, Zero!" Verge said excitedly. "Check this out, check this out."

The helicopter moved back and opened a hatch from underneath her. When the villains looked up, a single grenade-like object dropped from the ground and in-between them. It wasn't even a grenade. Once it exploded, vines grew out from it, and began tying the two together. Rippen and Larry barely had a chance.

"No!"

"Haha, yes!" Penn laughed as the continued on. "I'd fist bump you, but…"

"Yeah, save it. Also, no time for celebrating!"

As Rippen and Larry tried chasing, they only ended up falling on top of each other. Once they did, they seemed to have activated something and merged together. They formed a more powerful figure, and looked just about ready to destroy. That is, they would if Rippen wasn't the behind…

Penn cracked up laughing. "Rippen…is _literally _a buttface."

"I want to laugh…" Verge said slowly, trying to die down her giggles. "But I think I might die if I do."

"I knew if I called him that enough, it would happen." The boys laughed together, and even Sashi cracked a smile.

However, they stopped when the merged robot started using its weapons to fire, and began charging at them. They all gasped, when they only barely dodged, and the president of their race called Penn through video chat.

"_These Mechs have gone Morphy,"_

"Morphy?" Verge questioned. Boone and Sashi probably could've shrugged, but they couldn't.

"_To battle them, you must also go Morphy!"_

"We don't know how to do that, sir."

"_Of course you do! What are you, humans?"_

"…We don't tell you everything."

"_Just do it! Quick!"_

"You heard the president, Mechs," Penn gave in. "Morphiness, on!"

"Morphy Mech, go!" Sashi yelled.

Nothing happened.

"It's not working," Verge said blankly. "We've looked cooler."

"_This _is just like that level in Excessive Destruction 4: Wreck Everything when I don't know how to do anything and get blasted by rockets and explode!"

At that moment, one of the missiles hit Boone, and sent him flying further away. "Boone!" Verge cried.

"Larry, would you mind turning so I can make eye contact." Larry turned. "Thank you. What was that about you four working in sync?"

Rippen kicked the three, and they fell into a whole Boone had fallen in as well. As the screamed and landed harshly, they realized they had arms and legs again. Boone appeared, and was just the same. Verge quickly flew up, seeing her wings were just as robotic as her body. Her hands were just replacement bazookas and her feet were rockets. The awesome feature she had was the big hole in her chest, where she had more grenades to spare. As she flew, Penn checked his form.

"We went Morphy!"

"This is what it's like to feel alive…"

"Cool!" Boone grinned. "And we're each sold separately—"

Before he could finish his joke, they started to be shot with more lasers and missiles. "Everyone up!" Verge commanded, as they began to run.

"How can we get away from them?" Penn questioned. "They're above, they can see us!"

"We're aware," Sashi snapped. They stopped for a moment and looked upwards. "The Life Zone has to be here somewhere…Verge, can you sense anything?"

"Yes, actually!" the helicopter fairy agreed. But then her eyes widened when she pointed upwards. "But I also see that."

The team gasped when they saw Rippen found them. He fired a huge ray of fire, and it took down the tower they were next to.

"_Whoa!"_

As they screeched to the floor, Verge was the first to recover. From below there, she lit up and shook Penn. "There! The Life Zone's there!"

Penn looked up to see it right behind Rippen and Larry. What luck! They didn't even notice it. "The Life Zone," Penn repeated, smiling. "Come on, team, let's hurry!"

Making sure to stay hidden this time, they began climbing out of the giant maze hole. They were only halfway up when Rippen noticed them, and he and Larry started following. "They're trailing!" Boone announced.

Verge flew and turned, aiming her chest at the villains before firing a grenade again. This time, it was a snow grenade, and only hit the floor as Larry dodged it. "How do you like this teamwork, Zero?" Rippen taunted. "Larry! We're off balance! Pump your arms!"

"On it!"

"No, you're pumping the arms wrong!"

As they fell back in, the team beamed. Verge was laughing. "Nice—"

She stopped when they came across a cliff. It was just right above a river of hot, smoldering lava. Boone and Sashi stopped immediately, but Penn didn't notice. "They are such buffoons—"

He knocked right into them. Boone and Sashi screamed as they fell in.

"_Set yourself up for that one!"_

"_Sorry!"_

"Guys!" Verge could fly either way, so just jumped right in, hoping to catch them. However, she still couldn't hold on to both of them at the same time. To make matters worse, fairy dust was scarce at the moment.

"Verge! Going Morphy!"

Penn fell on his face as he was in the process of morphing, but he did it. "Now to get Mergy!"

As he flew right past his teammates, he somehow managed to turn them back to electronic form. They still didn't merge. "Oh, that didn't work."

Verge began to hesitate. "…Maybe it needs to be…"

She and Penn exchanged a knowing smile. _"A direct hit."_

As Boone and Sashi screamed, Penn flew from the bottom while Verge slammed from the top. The four felt themselves transform into something new. Boone turned into legs. Sashi turned to two arms. Verge turned into some sort of breastplate, as her face transformed to a space above her chest hole. Her tiny yellow wings supported his lower back. Penn, of course, was the head and wings. The team laughed when they saw they had formed one full robot.

"OK, I have _wings!_ Sprout!" he tried to command, but it didn't worked. "Let's go, wings! Boone, a little help? Use your face foot thrusters!"

The rockets in the Boone feet acted up, and they kept him aloft the lava. Penn placed the Sashi hands on his hips, but it wasn't over. The team began slamming themselves around the enclosed space, not able to control their thrust. "Penn!" Verge yelled.

They began to fall downward again and scream.

"Sashi, slow our fall with your arms. Stick 'em out, girl!"

She obeyed, and the hands began to claw at the wall. They did slow down, but they were still falling.

"Verge, start flapping those wings!" Penn commanded. "Time to get in sync. Sashi, hand thrusters. Boone, foot face thrusters! _Wings!"_

Once they were up, the four began flying forward.

They all began laughing at their great achievement, with Penn most especially. Together, they went in the same pace they were going at. They began to fly upwards, and finally make their way to the Life Zone.

The moment they resurfaced, they fell down.

"Well, that could've gotten worse," Verge said loudly.

Penn was the one panting. "Oh, that was close."

At that moment, Larry and Rippen finally came up, only making it because Larry was dancing to his own humming. "Sorry, pal," Penn smirked, standing up. "No evil beyond this point. _We're_ claiming the Life Zone!"

"Doubt it!" Rippen shouted. "Because _we're _claiming the Life Zone!"

"Oh, yeah? I don't think so!"

"_Really? _Because I _do_ think so!"

They charged right in. Laser shooting, kicking, punching, rough-housing, spanking, even the occasional girly-slapping. They were all shouting their battle cries and slamming their heads. They just kept coming at each other.

And suddenly, Verge felt something.

"_Guys!"_

Too late. Penn and Larry bashed their heads one last time, and it created a sonic boom. Everyone felt themselves changing. Verge felt her face disappear and make its way to the top. The six felt themselves expand, until they completely turned into one full change. When Verge opened her eyes, she felt like a whole new _head_ of something. And so, she began to speak in a voice that wasn't hers.

"_Massive Morphy Merge Complete."_

"Divergent," Penn gasped.

"What?" Verge frowned, now in her normal robot voice. "I tried to warn you."

The two presidents from both sides began to call. Verge tried to see what was happening but couldn't.

"_Morphy Mechs! What the heckar are you doing?!"_

"_Why did you Massively Morphy Mech Merge with our enemy?!"_

"You're breaking up, sir!" Penn made static noises. "Sorry, I—" He gulped the video chat down.

"Bad connection!" Rippen copied, slamming his own chat with his eye.

"What are we gonna do now?" Verge asked.

There was a quick pause before the whole robot began attacking itself.

"_Hyah!"_

"_Hey!"_

"_Not the face butt!"_

"_Ow!"_

"_Ow!"_

_"OW!"_

"_AH!"_

When the Merge had collapsed, all its power forms started to fly out. Lasers and missiles shot upwards, and into the sky, heading right for the moon.

"NO!" Verge shrieked.

Too late.

"Uh-oh."

The moon exploded. And it was beginning to come down on their planet.

"What's going on?" Rippen demanded. "I can't see! Turn me around!" Larry obeyed, but now the part-time villain was speechless. "Oh, my…"

"We're idiots," Verge said. "Everyone that agrees with me say I."

"I," they all admitted. Everyone except Rippen, who was still staring.

"If the moon crashes here, the planet is toast and nobody wins!" Sashi cried.

"What do we do?" Verge exclaimed.

"OK!" Penn started. "Here's what I think."

"Let me guess," Rippen sighed. "You're going to suggest that because Larry and I have superior firepower, and you have the power of flight, the only way we'll blow up the cracked moon before it destroys our planet is to work together."

"No, I was gonna use our final moments to make more buttface jokes, but your plan is way better." They could practically feel Rippen roll his eyes.

"Truce?"

"…I can't believe I'm saying this but let's work together, Penn Zero."

"Aw yes," Verge grinned.

"Let's fly, Massively Merge Morphy Mechs!"

The six cheered as they posed for upwards. But it seemed they were out of thrust. Penn kept their balance as they almost fell over.

"We need to charge our power matrix enough to take off!"

Boone lit up as he began to speak. "This reminds me of the final level of Excessive Destruction 4: Wre—"

"Boone!" Penn interrupted. "We don't have time for—"

"N-n-n-n-n-n-n," Rippen put in. "In the new spirit of cooperation, shouldn't we listen to our teammates? Hmm?"

"Got a point," Verge murmured. She could feel Sashi look up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What? Oh, yeah, uh…OK? Boone? Go on…"

"Thank you. One the final level of Excessive Destruction 4: Wreck Everything, you have to do a super complicated combo to get airborne and launch!"

"This must be a really complicated game."

"It is, Vergie, play with me sometime!"

"Sounds to me like you want us to bust a move!" Larry said excitedly. "Check out this beat." He then began beatboxing his own tune again as he started to dance. There was nothing for a little while before the matrix began to glow.

"Whoa!" Penn beamed. "The dancing is charging us up!"

Larry smiled wider. "Rippen, we need to add face booty moving!"

Rippen was clearly not happy about this. "All right, booty moving…"

"_Face booty!" _Rippen was shaking the robot hips, and the rest of the team was dancing as well. They busted more moves, getting the matrix to glow brighter. They flew upwards, faltering a bit, as they slammed into the floor and into a building. But there got back up.

"We just need to get a little _bit mo' funk-ay!" _Penn put on a serious-not-serious face. "Boone, hit the thrusters when I say 'Massive Morphy Merge Mechs'!"

"What are you planning, Zero?" Verge shouted.

"You'll see!"

And just like that, Penn began to go into a series of breakdancing. The more the robot danced, the brighter the matrix glowed. It was as if they were surrounded bya ring of fire.

"_Massive Morphy Merge Mechs!"_

And just like that, they were back up in the air.

"_AW YES!" _Verge yelled out.

Penn was laughing, as they prepared, and he looked at everyone else, as they all looked like they knew what to do.

"_Massive Morphy Merge Mechs!"_

Rippen frowned. "Oh, that sounded weird, I'm not saying that again."

"Don't be such a sourtiger, Rip," Verge smirked.

"Oh, shush, helicopter. On my go, we all fire!" Everyone just smirked, looking very determined. "Three…two…one…_go!"_

Just like that, they shot with all their might.

Even Verge had new lasers shooting from their new head.

The way they all did it together…not as enemies, but as a team…

It felt nice.

They were in sync.

There was a blinding light, and everyone braced for cover.

_Boom._

The explosion caused the Mechs to demerge. They were now aimlessly floating in space, all unconscious. Verge was the first to wake up and she shook her head at where they were. "Guys…?" she called meekly.

"Verge…" Penn's face came to next. The first thing he zoomed in on was the scene of the two presidents.

The races were by the Life Zone. The presidents were smiling as they shook hands.

"What is it?" Verge questioned. When Penn pointed happily, she began to smile too. "Ah…"

"Huh. Look at that. I guess that was the real mission: saving the planet and achieving peace for all!"

Rippen made a disgusted face. "Peace for all? What the—"

* * *

**Two eps in one day, omgods. Must be a new record *-***


	43. Ultrahyperball

**Chapter 36: Ultrahyperball**

* * *

**OMGODS I JUST WATCHED THE SEASON FINALE AND I THINK I CRIED INSIDE.**

**I CAN'T BELIEVE IT.**

**SEASON 1 IS OFFICIALLY OVER. 2016, PREPARE FOR SEASON 2**

**I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAIT TO WRITE THE LAST EPISODE.**

**AND AFTER THAT I WRITE THE FINAL SPECIAL EP.**

**IS ANYONE HERE IS EXCITED AS I AM?**

**BETTER TURN THE CAPS LOCK OFF BEFORE WRITING.**

* * *

"OK, everyone gather around."

"Whoa-ho, Phyllis," Verge smirked as they walked up to the zap platform. A fancy-looking meal for four was set up on a clothed table, and everyone was confused at why it was there. "Special occasion?"

"No," Phyllis replied, leaving it at that. She gestured for everyone to sit down. Boone and Sashi decided to just go along with it. The mechanic set down a plate on the table and took the cover off. "Dinner is served."

An odd collection of food was there, but each member took his or her favorite and bit into it. Verge was chewing on a piece of seaweed and Penn frowned as he reached for the PB&amp;J sandwich. "What did we do to deserve this?"

"Make no mistake. You. Do not. Deserve."

"Well, that's inspiring," Verge murmured.

"Sometimes, is best to do something…unexpected."

"Sounds a little too much for a lesson for my liking, but…" Penn raised a glass. "Everbody, raise your glass to Phyllis. A normally angry, insulting wo—"

"Enough blabber. Good luck."

As she zapped them, Penn had dropped his glass. "Well, I was trying to say something nice…"

* * *

"…And no one cares."

"Zero, watch out!"

Before he knew it, someone had tackled him to the ground. As the guy moved off, Penn shook his head and looked to see Verge hovering over him. She helped him up, and Penn realized they seemed to be wearing identical jock uniforms; only Verge's number was 1, and her golden wings stuck out from behind her. When the boy looked around, he smiled.

"Football, anyone?"

Sashi also scanned the area. "Uh…something tells me this isn't football."

"You're right," Verge admitted. "'Cause it's not."

They were on a _moon. _The field had so many symbols, and the audience was consisted of two asteroids on different sides of the arena. Verge had no idea what was going on, but she knew enough that this wasn't anything like any Earth sport. Thousands of alien fans were cheering very loudly, and despite the fact it looked like they were still pretty cheerful and supportive, they seemed to have been there forever. It made Penn curious.

"Well, perhaps some Specs checking would be in order. Sash? Could you…check the…Specs…?"

She was already on it. "The game is called 'Ultrahyperball'. We are Tarbgarbs, and we are playing against the Blargtarbs. Our mission is to end this game."

"Do we get a giant trophy if we win?" Boone asked excitedly.

"The winner gets a pizza party, and the loser gets their home planet blown up."

"What a _nice_ inspiration," Verge cried out, hands held out.

"…Soooo…no trophy?"

"That's just sad, isn't it? If one team loses, millions of lives will be at stake." Verge frowned at that. "Just imagine the pressure on these people!"

"And five thousand years is a real pain in the neck," Penn added. "Well…let's go huddle up."

The four gathered up their team members and got in around a circle. "Sash, what are the rules to this game?"

Sashi tried operating her Specs. "The rules are…" She winced, when her Specs began to malfunction. She quickly whipped them off and threw them. The Specs instantly exploded. "The rules are so complicated that they crashed my Specs!"

"Gonne have to get a new one when we get back," Verge said, staring at the hole the explosion made. "Also…I developed a new fear in Ultrahyperball."

"_We are in disagreement!"  
_

The four looked up to see the Tarbgarb coach kicking away one of the enemy team members. Penn and Verge exchanged a look, and stepped forward.

"Hey, coach," Penn said, trying to sound upbeat. "Ah, we just wanted a quick reminder on how you win this silly old game!" He chuckled nervously.

"By we, he means he," Verge added. Penn nudged her.

The coach squinted her eyes and lowered her voice. "Are you trying to be cute? _Nobody _knows how to win!"

"_Hey, Jackie No-Neck!"_ The coach from the other team was shouting and pointing at the Tarbgarbs. "You gonna fill the team? Or do you give up?!"

"You shut that disgusting circle you call a mouth, Wallace Short-Hands!" Coach Jackie yelled back. She turned back to Penn and Verge and started pushing them. "Quit embarrassing me and get out there!"

"Well, that was helpful!" Verge shouted. She was being awfully sarcastic today.

"OK, guys!" Penn said quickly, as they returned to the huddle. "Um, we're gonna run a half-switch, play-action, no backsies. Double up on two. Break!"

"Are you seriously trying to speak football?"

"Yes? No…maybe."

The ref's whistle sounded out, and everyone got to position.

But then it rang again when Rippen was talking to himself and began to laugh.

"_Hold it, evil laughing!" _The ref called out.

"Wow, intense rules," Sashi muttered to Verge. The fairy scoffed.

"_Play Unltrahyperball!"_

A purple sphere was tossed to Penn, and he caught it instantly. Once he had it, all the Blargtarbs began chasing him. What else could he have done but run. "Travel! Travelling!"

He ran up a pole and did a flip back. All the members that chased him ran smack into it. "Settling ten…" He dodged someone's tackle and landed on the floor. "Am I safe? I don't feel safe."

Suddenly, Penn's body began to rise from a platform, and something shaded over him. When he stood, there was a door before him, and it had a label "Knock on me and win!"

"_Uh-oh!" _one of the sports announcer said. _"Looks like the Tarbgarb captain has stepped on a wacky square!"_

"_Brilliant move, Ron," _his partner said. _"He's randomly found himself at the door of winners. All he has to do: knock on that door and the Tarbgarbs win." _The Blargtarb announcer chuckled nervously. _"And wouldn't that be something!"_

Penn began to raise his hand as he hesitated. A Death ray outside in space was ready to shoot every Blargtarb in the stadium. The red aliens gasped, and braced for their fate. Meanwhile, the blue aliens were ready to chow down on the pizza parlor that just arrived. Everyone was just _dying_ for Penn to get it over with…

"Zero!" He heard Verge's voice and whirled around. She was flying over to him. "You can't do this. The other planet will get destroyed! There has to be another way—"

A whistle shrilled in his ears when the ref glared at the fairy. _"No flying on the field!"_

"_There's no rule for that!" Verge shrieked._

"Penn!" Sashi yelled. "Knock already!"

"No," Penn replied. "Verge is right. Whether we win or lose, a planet gets blown up, which doesn't seem particularly heroic. Maybe this is what Phyllis was trying to tell us! We need to find an unexpected way to end this game without either planet getting blown up."

Verge smiled at her hero proudly as Penn stepped away from the door.

"_Oh! Now the door's lost forever! That may have been the last chance to end this game in our miserable lifetime!"_

Penn walked up to Verge and smirked. "Don't make me regret this."

The fairy scoffed. "If we fail, blame yourself." Penn smiled.

"Boone, catch!"

Unfortunately, as Penn threw, Boone missed by a landslide, as he was way too distracted in eating a churro. "Cool, churros!"

As he chomped, the entire audience gazed in awe, and some members drove their attention away from the ball. The announcers were saying something, which caused everyone to go _wild. _Boone's churror chomping was an attention-getter. Penn, Verge, and Sashi stood, poker-faced, at the state of their team member. "You've got to be kidding," Sashi said.

"Two can play at that game!" Rippen unexpectedly appeared out of nowhere and tried tackling Boone. He yelped and took off, leaving Rippen with the churros. He chuckled as he bit into one, but the only attention he got was that of the referee when he blew his whistle.

"_Illegal churro bite!"_

"OK, let's move on," Verge said quickly, afraid of getting a migraine. "How exactly can we end this in a tie?"

"We can't really know if we don't even know the rules," Sashi said. "So we're really stuck."

"No, we can't be. Zero, what do you think?"

However, when the fairy turned to her friend, he seemed to be staring at something else. The girls turned to where he was looking at and noticed the two coaches of either team were shouting again. But they were more than just insults now…were they complimenting each other (while kicking dirt)?

"_I'd tell ya to get your eyes checked, but we all know they're the most perfect eyes in the field!"_

"_Your smile lights up a room!"_

"_Give my regards to your delightful mother for me!"_

"_I will! It will mean a lot to her!"_

Once the ref was completely covered in dirt, the coaches went back to their teams.

"That was…" Verge frowned. "Weird."

"I think I know how we can save everyone," Penn said.

"Really, how?" Verge questioned.

He took her hand, and led her to Coach Jackie, who was scribbling in a clipboard. "So, uh," the blue-eyed alien started. "What's the deal with you and that other coach? You guys, uh, got history, er…?"

Coach Jackie scoffed. "Nothin'. I mean, we used to play varsity Ultrahyperball when we were kids, you know we were friends, but there was always something more…"

"That's sweet," Verge commented.

"Oh, no, no it would never work. I have no neck, he has short hands. But there's more to it than that. He's a Blargtarb. I'm a Tarbgarb."

"This reminds me a lot of Romeo and Juliet," Penn whispered.

"I know…Alien Version."

Jackie sighed. "If only he knew how much I…_no! _Keep it in, Jackie…you gotta keep that unbridled love but right up in…!" Tears began to stream down her face.

"This is sad."

"I'm aware, Verge." Penn looked over at the other side and saw that Coach Wallace was having a hard time not crying as well. He tried patting Coach Jackie's shoulder, but decided no.

"Hey, is there anything in the rules that the game could end in a tie if two people from each planet were to get married?"

Penn looked at her in disbelief. "Verge, you just read my mind."

Verge shrugged. "What can I say? We've grown onto each other."

The boy smiled.

"Go on, Cap'. Tell the team."

From a distance, as they were about to huddle up, a giant rulebook came out of nowhere in front of Rippen, and Verge noticed this. "Good luck, Rip," she said in a low voice. Boone and Sashi grinned and nodded in agreement. Later, as they all gathered, Penn was smirking as he looked at the Tarbgarbs.

"OK, guys, I think I know why we're here: help our coach find love."

"Love wins!" the fairy cheered.

"Yeah…real talk. All right, guys, on three everyone say 'matchmaker'. One…two…three!"

"_Matchmaker!"_

They then scattered out into the field.

While the rest of the team played, Verge went over to a small patch of grass and grew some roses. She bundled them up together in a piece of paper and formed a bouquet. She then handed them over to Penn, who quickly went to the arguing coaches.

"_Open your eyes, Ref!" _Jackie shouted.

"_Don't you get tired of being wrong?!" _Wallace yelled.

"_Get outta my face!"_

Penn had quickly placed the bouquet in the red alien's hand. It looked like he was giving them to Jackie. For a moment, they smiled at each other.

But then Jackie threw it away and they continued to fight.

"It's OK," Penn said. "Plan B."

"What's Plan B?"

"A gross one. Get me a trash-load of that green juice they have here."

"Why do _I _have to do it?"

"Fine. Sash, get me a trash-load of that green juice they have here."

"Whatever."

Penn gestured like "See?". Verge only stared, poker-faced.

When Sashi returned a few minutes later, she dumped the whole can over Coach Wallace. Seeing that he was now filthy, he took his shirt off and started shaking. Verge was confused on why Coach Jackie was staring so much. Especially at his stomach. He had two, and they were practically flabs. Still, the female coach was practically drooling.

Penn and Sashi shuddered. Verge frowned. "I don't get it. How is this supposed to help in the path of love—"

Before she could finish, Penn took her helmet-covered head and stroked it. "Shhh, you're much too young to understand…"

"What? I'm your age."

"Plan C.

A few hours later, a member of the Blargtarbs had stepped on a wacky square and was sent flying into the glass that surrounded the field. _"It's my turn to yell!" _Wallace was screaming.

Hours earlier, Verge had began cooking a nice steak dinner for the two coaches. Penn and Sashi took care of appetizers, the table, the candelabra, and the fancy china. As Penn and Sashi brought in the final output, the two stared at it. It didn't take long for them to lift their glasses and clink them. Yet, they still screamed.

"_That was a lovely toast!"_

"_I have trouble processing emotions!"_

"_You are everything I ever wanted!"_

"I think we're making progress," Verge smiled. Her friends on either side of her nodded, agreeing. But then the fairy frowned when she saw the beard forming on Penn's face and Sashi's hair slightly growing out of her helmet. It was weird, but she decided not to question it at the moment.

They decided to get to Plan D.

Much later after they finished dinner, Boone had requested some music to play in the field. After much convincing, Sashi got Jackie to get onto the field and dance with Wallace, who was persuaded by Penn. They happily obliged, but now both planets were starting to realize what they were doing. Especially when Verge produced a spotlight on them

"_It seems the Tarbgarb players are trying to get their coaches to admit their love for one another," _the announcer said.

"Got that right," Verge grinned, as they were now watching the two dance. They looked so in love, and their plan was going along just fine. Penn and the fairy did a quick fist-bump.

"Jackie," Coach Wallace began. "You're a glorified babysitter to a team of pathetic losers, but…there's no place I'd rather be than in your arms."

"Awww."

Suddenly, Jackie got on one knee.

"What are you doing, you talking piece of garbage?"

"Grow a brain!" Jackie shouted. "These semi-romantic situations we've been pushed into have made me see I can't live without ya! I'm asking ya to marry me!"

She then produced a box with a beautiful diamond ring inside it. We all know what this meant, and so did the audience. Everyone began to gasp at the scene before them.

"Wait, isn't it the guy that's supposed to…ask the…"

"Don't question it, Verge. This world doesn't tell us everything."

"Yes!" Wallace screamed. "With all my heart, yes!"

The ref began to blow his whistle again. _"Illegal wedding engagement!"_

"What?!" Verge shouted.

That's when Penn snapped. "You show me where in the rules it says opposing coaches can't marry. Show it to me!"

"That could take centuries! Appeal to the Elder Ref if you dare!" The Tarbgarbs gasped.

"Fine! We will!" The Blargtarbs gasped.

"Wait, we?" Verge asked. Penn knocked on her helmet. "I'm kidding!"

"Me too, I guess," Sashi said boredly. The Tarbgarbs gasped.

"I'm coming too," Boone added. The Blargtarbs gasped again.

"_Well, Mike, I haven't seen this much gasping since the Air Link of 3015."_

Wallace then walked up to Penn. "Son, no one has ever survived the journey to the Elder Referee. You must reverse a distance _so great _that it defies measurement itself. Perils beyond your darkest nightmares will awaken you in every turn. The weather will show you no mercy. But if you _do_ survive…prepare to encounter a nobility of wisdom…that knows no equal."

"This quest sounds tough," Penn commented. "We might not return for days…"

Verge shrugged. "Good thing we have fairy dust."

The quartet smiled at each other knowingly.

Verge flew up in the air, regardless of what the referee might say and conjured up a massive ball of dust. She slammed the whole thing down on her friends from a great distance, and almost instantly they got to her side. They grinned when everyone was looking up at them.

"We'll be back in…give or take…three to four hours," Penn smiled. "Wait up for us!"

* * *

The journey was truly like none other. They _flew_ over wastelands, and the great domains of monsters. They flew over mountains that were surrounded by fierce snowstorms. They were almost sent backwards. Verge was the one most tired, for she was providing them their fuel, and was using a part of her body to keep up. At some point, she had to dust herself. They did not stop for a rest, and they certainly didn't give up. It was no sooner that they soon stood before the giant shrine of the Elder Referee.

He was a blob.

I'm not kidding.

He was a pink blob with a hundred eyes.

"This is what we came here for?" Verge asked. Her friends hushed her.

Penn smiled awkwardly. "Hi, hello, I hope I'm not disturbing you. Um…are you the Elder Referee?"

He got the cross of a farting sound and a raspberry blow in reply.

"OK…Elder Ref, sir? Would it be OK to tweak the rules just a bit and end our game by having the coaches of the opposing teams get married? Two planets are at stake."

More farting and raspberry blowing.

"Huh, wow! You will _not _regret this decision. You are indeed wise, Elder Referee. Namaste."

More farting. More blowing. Much more farting.

"What's that? Oh, oh…yeah, I dunno, movie night sounds fun but we just really need to get back to the game."

More farting.

"OK! Thanks again, so much…see ya."

"How could you understand all that?" Verge asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't. Come on, let's fly."

As her friends began to walk away, Verge turned to the Elder Ref again and stared up at it. It stared back at her. "So…uh, do you know what's the deal with their beards and hair? _Seriously_, it's only been twenty-four hours, how can they grow hair that fast—"

"Verge, come on!"

* * *

The wedding was taken place on the field, of course. They seemed to have gotten everything ready in time, and the team coaches were all dressed up for the special occasion. Penn got dibs on minister, and he knew exactly what to say.

"…And if these two miserable, hateful individuals can love each other, why can't _our_ two peoples get along?" Penn looked over at his friends. Boone and Sash were smiling, but Verge was blowing her tears on a handkerchief. "I suggest we call this game a draw, in the name of true love!"

This time, the aliens "Awww"ed.

"_You may now kiss the bride!" _the ref shouted. _"But once you do, this game will officially end in a draw!"_

"Yes!" Verge cheered, when Penn moved away. The couple gazed into each others' eyes and leaned in. But at the same time, Rippen made a discovery.

"Haha! I found it, I have found it! Yes! All you have to do to win is pop the ball!" He gazed down at his shoes, which were clearly spiked, and ran to the ultrahyperball.

"What, no!" Verge tried flying forward to stop him, but Penn held her back.

"Don't worry, Vergie."

"What?! But Penn—"

"No, no. Just wait."

The couple leaned in. Rippen tripped on his eyeball. _"Stupid eye!"_

Their lips were just centimeters away. Rippen raised his foot.

The distance turned to millimeters. So did Rippen's foot spikes into the ball.

But the lips came together first. That one full second of the kiss, the ball only then did pop. And the crowd cheered at that.

"_It is a draw!"_

"WHAT?!" Rippen shrieked. "No! Agh, look at me, I haven't watched for months!"

"It's only been two days!" Verge yelled out. "What is _with _this world?!"

"All this reading for nothing! Well, that's a lesson learned! Don't waste your time reading!"

**((A/N: I'm gonna be honest. I wanted to kill Rippen at this point))**

"Zero, how did you know?"

The blue-eyed boy only smiled softly. "Maybe _I_ don't tell you everything…." Verge smirked back and lightly punched his shoulder.

"_Well, I guess that about wraps it up, Mike! The only question left to answer is, what are we supposed to do with the rest of our lives?"_

"Let's not answer that! Our mission is over! Let's go home! Phyllis, take us back, take us back now!"

Zap.

* * *

**YAAAAAAAAAYYYY ALL THE MINOR EPISODES ARE DOOOONE.**

**WE CAN NOW MOVE ON TO THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT EPISODES OF THE SEASON.**

**I AM SUPER EXCITED.**

**I MIGHT POST "Zap One" TOMORROW. I DON'T KNOW. I REALLY WANT TO POST IT TODAY. IT DEPENDS ON HOW SANE I AM.**

**I CAN'T TURN DOWN THE CAPS LOCK YOU CAN TOTALLY SEE MY HAPPINESS :DDD**

**ANYWAYS, HOPE YOU LIKED ALL THE CHAPTERS FOR THE PAST -****counts on fingers- FIVE MONTHS?! HAS IT REALLY BEEN THAT LONG? OH HOW TIME PASSES AND STAYS. **

**SEE YA'LL SOON! HOPEFULLY I'LL GET OVER THE FACT SEASON 2 IS STILL ON 2016 LATER ON :DDD**


	44. Zap One

**Chapter 37: Zap One**

* * *

**I am both relieved and sad that I got this one over with ;-; The upcoming chapters - though there are only 2 left - might take longer than I expected! Q-Q Wish me luck, guys, and hope you like this chap!**

* * *

It was a beautiful day. The sun was just rising above the Middleburg. The old man with the Santa Claus beard stood proudly on his house and shouted out, "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

But that wasn't important.

As light streaked through the windows of Penn Zero's room, Verge groaned as she turned in her matchbox bed and shielded it with her pillow. However, her roommate was acting just the opposite.

For he started breaking out in song.

"_~Today's the day, today's the day!~"_

He jumped out of bed and started to change. Without even thinking, he grabbed his backpack and Verge out of her bed.

"Hey!"

Ignoring her protests, Penn continued to sing as slid down the stairs and spun his aunt and uncle around.

"_~My 50__th__ zapping here on my way~"_

Verge yawned as she sat on his shoulder, but slowly began to dance along with him later on.

"_~The sky is blue, my MUHU too  
__Saving the world is what we're gonna do~"_

He got on his scooter and placed his helmet on, then sped into the street. Some of his schoolmates had joined him, but he let them. "Come on, Verge, sing with me!" he cried out.

"No!" she answered with a grin.

"_~Oh, when I started this  
__I was but a boy  
__But I'm still a boy  
__So I don't know what my point was!~"_

"Zero, watch out!" Verge cried. Some trash was headed his way, but Penn didn't seem to bother.

"_~On our 50__th__ zap, I won't switch genders  
__So I'll still be a boy  
__A boy they'll throw a surprise party for~"_

A bluebird had gotten near them, and Verge reached out to pet it. But Penn bumped on a rock, and it flew into his mouth. The fairy retreated back onto his shoulder, and Penn spit feathers out.

"_~Oh, today is the day  
__Today is the day  
__The 50__th__ zap that we will make!~"_

As Penn and Verge arrived at the Odyssey and put their time cards in, they quickly did a quick tiny fist-bump as Verge turned to human size. They grinned at each other, as Penn was _still _singing…

"_~And they will throw me  
__A surprise party  
__And I will eat some—"_

"Surprise."

The moment he busted the door open, something exploded in their faces. Penn and Verge were covered in soot and dirt, but a surprise hose washed them down. Followed by ferrets, tickling hands, and two pies. In the end, neither of the two were smiling.

"Hey!" Boone exclaimed. "It's our 50th zap too!"

Phyllis pressed a button, and the boy was encountered with three gunshots, a box full of bats, and a horn to the ears. "Whoo…_nice!"_

"Congratulation on 50th zap day," Phyllis said. "Parent have two second to give compliment."

She pressed the same button, and a MUHU screen appeared.

"We love you, sweeties/We're so proud of you guys—"

"Two seconds are up."

"Well, uh…thanks, Phyllis?" Verge said awkwardly. Then she smiled and gave Boone a big hug. "Happy 50th zap."

Sashi walked up to Penn next. "I am going to hug you now. It's not weird." They _did_ try to hug, but Sashi only ended up awkwardly patting him. Which _did _make it weird, they weren't siblings. **((A/N: aHhHHhh)) **

Before they could pull away, Verge tackled them and hugged them properly. "I'm so proud of us!"

"Ah, haha…" Penn laughed lightly. "Yeah…can we part now?"

Boone grinned as he walked up to his teammates. "Dude…fifty zaps? I totally remember our very first one."

"Me too," Sashi sighed.

"Yeah…" Penn smiled.

"Me three." Verge started to gaze up at the ceiling dreamily with them. "What are we looking at…?"

They didn't reply and just paused.

Penn ruined it. "Well, no time for a flashback. Let's get to work."

"Is OK," Phyllis said. "I do flashback time into schedule."

"Flashback! Flashback!" Verge cheered. She flew over to the cinema seat in front of the platform, where Penn had just stepped on, and the rest followed.

"Yeah, just not feeling a flashback."

Phyllis took a hold of his shirt and stared into his cyan eyes. "You _will _flashback."

She pressed a button, and some sort of weird helmet fell over his head. Sparks flew everywhere, and Penn's eyes turned pure blue. Next thing he knew, he was staring at a memory.

* * *

The redhead boy was just waking up in bed that day. As his eyes fluttered open, he looked up to see a blurry vision of his parents staring down at him. They leaned into his face and grinned widely.

"It's your very fiiiiirst…day of school!"

"Day of school!"

"Day of school!"

"_Day. Of. High school!" _The Zeros all sang together as Penn was wide awake now.

The young boy practically leaped out of bed and headed for the stairs. He also remembered something and went back. "I should probably wear pants."

Vonnie Zero chuckled. "And wake up your roommate."

"Oh yeah!" Penn smirked as he knelt by his desk. Little Verge was sleeping in her matchbox as usual. She looked so peaceful, the way she slept like that. _"Divergent! It's the first day of school!"_

"Zeroooo!" the fairy whined, turning away from him and covering her ears. "It's _your_ first day, you mean. I don't wanna goooo."

"Oh, Vergie, you're just jealous you can't take normal classes like Penn," Brock Zero chuckled.

"Maybe, maybe not…I don't tell you everything." Her wings perked up slightly. "Hey, that sounds cool."

"You never do." Penn laughed as he took the fairy and threw her up in the air. He held his hands out to catch her, but the golden-winged girl was wide awake now and glared at his little "stunt". "Come on, Verge, we're supposed to do this together! We always do!"

"Ughhh…fiiiine…just put some pants on."

"Already on it!"

Penn began to change clothes, and Verge straightened her leaf clothes. When they were both ready, they headed downstairs and seated themselves at the dining table. Verge was still small and chose to sit by Penn's glass, as they anxiously waited for food.

"Who's ready for breakfast?" Brock called out. As he said that, he accidentally caused the frying pan to fall, along with that morning's bacon.

Vonnie noticed immediately, did a little roll and caught them just in time. Things were OK for a while until the pancakes caught on fire. Brock got the fire extinguisher, did a flip as he extinguished the flames, and tossed the food onto Penn's plate like an expert. Vonnie added the bacon, and ended that scene by grinning at their child.

Penn looked at his parents. "…Huh. For life insurance salespeople, you sure are nimble."

As soon as he said that, a flash of gold whizzed by him, and he looked down at his plate to see it stole one pancake and one strip of bacon. Verge grew to human size this time and gulped down the food whole. She smiled in satisfaction as she leaned on Penn's chair. He chuckled.

"…Like some people I know."

"You said you wanted to get to school. Come on, Zero, chop chop!"

"All right, all right!"

Once Penn had finished his food, everyone immediately piled into the car. For Verge, she turned smaller and hid in Penn's hair. As they pulled up to the front of Penn's high school, the boy got out and grinned at his surroundings. _Middleburg High School. _So this was the start of a brand new—

Thoughts were interrupted when Vonnie breathlessly threw herself at her son and hugged him. Verge, who was confused at what was happening, poked her head out of the redhead's hair and frowned. "Mrs. Zero?"

The woman grinned as she took the fairy and gave her a little hug as well. Which still didn't answer any questions. As she held Verge, she looked at her son seriously. "What you're heading into…might feel overwhelming…but you are capable of so much!"

Brock joined his wife and placed a hand over her shoulder, as he looked back at the two children. "No matter how hard things get…just be yourself."

"Mr. Zero?" Verge said, even louder.

"And no matter what happens…take care of each other."

"Why are you guys being so dramatic?" Penn asked.

"We'll pick you up after school…" Vonnie said.

"But if for some reason we're late…" Brock held up a movie ticket. It was labeled "The Odyssey" and Penn knew what it was when he took it.

"That rundown movie theatre?"

"If we're late," Vonnie took her son again as Verge was passed onto his palm this time. "Just go there. There's nothing to worry about."

"Why would we be worried?" Penn questioned, now completely worried.

"Guys?" Verge frowned.

Brock joined in the hug. "I love you so much, guys."

"We love you, sweeties…"

"OK, guys? This is turning into a bit of a scene here…"

"Hey, nobody can see me, so…"

"_I LOVE MY SOOOOOOOON!"_

Everyone stared at them, of course.

"OK! Mom, Dad! We need to get going!" Penn laughed awkwardly as they finally pulled away. "We—Well, I really need to get going now."

"Of course, of course," Vonnie patted Verge's head and smiled. "Just remember what we said…"

"We'll see you two." Brock smiled, but Verge could clearly see the pain from behind it. What?

After one last smile, the parents got in their car and sped off.

"Well, that was…" Penn started.

"Weird?" Verge put in.

"Nah…?"

"Come on. Let's just go inside."

"Oh! Right."

Penn placed the fairy in his hair, and they entered the school.

From the start, Penn walked in with confidence. From the smile on his face and the way he walked, you would think he would get along really well in this school. That's what he felt like, at least.

"Oh-ho, up top! All right, hey, nice to make your acquaintance, my good man or woman. I'm not making any assumptions. We don't know what's going on in there." He chuckled and blew on a coach's whistle. "Hey, put me in, Coach! I'm ready to go."

"High school seems so weird, Zero," Verge muffled from within his hair. Though she couldn't be seen, the fairy could see everything Penn was seeing. Though she had difficulty, she made sure to shield herself so no one would be able to tell she was there. "Everyone acts so…the same."

"Maybe so. But we'll be part of this weirdness soon, Vergie."

"You mean _you _will. I'll be in the shadows."

"You mean in my hair. Come on, Vergie, lighten up!"

"If I did, people might see me. Now be quiet or people will wonder why you're talking to yourself!"

"No need. I see Boone up ahead."

Verge knew Boone even before high school. He was Penn's best friend – after Verge – and they usually did everything together too. Verge had thought he was especially weird, but she'd grown used to it sooner on. Boone was frowning, as he appeared to be confused at something. "Doesn't make any sense. Why would they put a urinal in the hallway."

"…Uh, Boone? That's a water fountain."

The boy gasped. "_Never_ drink from that…"

In Penn's hair, Verge shuddered. "Boone…gross."

The brunette boy smirked. "Hey, Divergie. Still hiding, I see."

"I have no choice, do I? Happy first day."

"More like horrible first day. I'm pretty sure everyone doesn't want to be here."

"Oh? Maybe that's why everyone's weird."

"Pretty sure that's just your fairystincts talking," Penn put in.

"…Nah."

"Uh, what was with your Dad?" Boone asked.

"I dunno, they've been acting real weird."

"That one, we are sure about," Verge insisted.

"Think they might have some important life insurance meeting today."

Boone chuckled. "Yeah…'life insurance'. Yeah. Right. That is what their jobs are, totally."

"What was with that." Verge questioned.

"With what?"

"Those quotation marks you did. And that tone you were using."

"What about it—"

Before Boone could finish his sentence, Penn accidentally bumped into one of the students. She turned back at Penn, grabbed his sweater, and pulled him to her eye level. Penn's eyes widened as he found brown eyes glaring into his soul. "Bump me again, I'll punch your face 'til your hair goes straight!"

From behind his red strands, Verge squinted her eyes. Penn nodded, and the girl released him as she pointed at Boone. "Your nose is impossible." As Boone touched his sniffer, the girl walked away. She angrily pushed the school mascot into a locker and took off.

The three could only stare. "…Well, she seems nice." Penn commented.

"I'd want to teach her a thing or two…" Verge mumbled.

They then realized candy was falling over their heads and turned a round. A small man was grinning rather widely at them, as he carried a bag full of candy. "Good morning, students!" he greeted cheerfully. "My name is Principal Larry, and I just wanted to say…"

He then began to sing.

"_~Today is the first day of school!  
And first days of school always rule rule rule  
__You seem like a fun and peppy peppy crowd!  
__And I'd hug you all, but legally I'm not allowed~"_

Once that was over, he threw confetti at their heads and did the same thing to the next group of students. The boys exchanged a look.

"What did I say about this school, guys?" Verge muttered.

Penn nodded briefly. "Weird."

"Hey, I better get to my first class," Boone then said. "What's yours?"

Penn checked a piece of paper, which was supposed to contain his schedule. "Art class."

"Well, see you two around later. Watch out for him, Verge." With a smirk, the boy was off.

"I'll be sure to! Let's go, Zero."

Penn didn't take long to find the right place. When he did, he smiled and entered the room. He looked around, and saw a spiky black-haired teacher at the desk. He seemed to be engrossed in grading art projects…because he was contented in putting them through the shredder. He didn't look up from his pile of papers when he said, "No smiling."

Penn tried to weaken it. "This is…just my face."

"How unfortunate for you." When he saw the boy, Penn could see his yellow and red eyes. "Name?"

"Penn."

"Ben what?"

"No, uh, _Penn."_

"Yes, Ben."

"_Penn."_

"Ben?"

"Penn," Verge murmured angrily. "What are you, stupid?"

"_PENN. _With a P. _Penn. _Penn Zero."

That seemed to catch the man's attention. He finally looked up properly and set his paper down. "Penn Zero? Well, why didn't you say so? I've been so looking forward to meeting you." He stood up and smiled.

"Well, uh, that seems like a nice thing to say. Your ultra-creepy grin says otherwise."

"I have a perfectly charming grin." The man went up to Penn and whispered in his ear, loud enough for Verge to listen to as well. "But I'm going to make your life a waking nightmare. I'm going to crush your spirit and make you _beg for mercy."_

"…In art?"

"Sure, yes…'art'." The man laughed wickedly and went back to his desk.

Penn was really weirded out now.

"Zero, I have a bad feeling about this," Verge murmured.

"Same here…"

As Penn went to take his seat, he only found himself being pushed right off it in the end. His body hit the ground, and he looked up to see the girl from earlier. She smirked down at him. "Dibs."

This caused Penn to frown.

* * *

The day just went on for Penn. He had other classes, but it just all ended up to be one bad day. Once the first day of school had ended, Penn waited outside as he sat on a bench for his parents. To make everything worse, he'd waited for hours, and they still hadn't arrived.

"Zero…" Now that there were absolutely no people, Verge revealed herself from Penn's hair and faced her friend.

"Verge!" Penn quickly took her under his arm. "People might see you."

"There _are_ no people!"

Realizing her mistake, it was too late when Penn sighed. "Yeah…well. At least my parents forgot to pick us up…"

"Zero, look. I know today…wasn't as how you expected it to be—"

She was interrupted by the rain. It began to pour and pour harder and a car passed by and splashed him too. Penn then struggled to keep Verge's wings dry. She was grateful for the gesture, but he was getting even more depressed by the second. Especially when a fish truck passed by and a bucket of fish fell on him. And when the bench broke. And the trash can fell on him. And another car splashed him.

Yes, what a first day.

"You were saying?" Penn grumbled.

Now on his head, Verge frowned as she summoned a large wave of water and dumped it over both of them. The trash washed away, and Penn let out a gasp as they were now both soaking. Verge lifted her wet wing, and sighed. "Why'd you do that?"

"Zero, honestly, things could get worse. We didn't die today, at least. If anything, I feel like this should be one of those times to focus on the good stuff for a while."

Penn was silent, but he then chuckled at how Verge sacrificed an hour of flight for this. He reached up and patted her head. "Thank you, Verge…actually, I do remember one thing…"

He then reached into the pocket of his bag and brought out that ticket his parents gave them.

"We're going?"

"We have no choice. When Mom and Dad said if they didn't come, we go here. Our only problem is that I don't know where this place is…"

"I do!"

"You do?"

"Yeah! Back in middle school, I'd go around town, and I passed this place one day. I can guide you there."

"OK…but you have to keep dry. Get in my hair."

She reluctantly obeyed, but Verge could easily give him the directions from there. Penn followed them precisely, and the two had soon come across the big building. It was rundown, all right. It looked liked no one had used it in years. The "Condemned" sign even fell off. But Penn trusted his parents, so he walked right up to the door.

"_Go into that building and you will die!" _Penn stared at the old man that had suddenly appeared and pointed at him. In his hair, Verge gulped. They were all silent for a while…

"…is the name of this book."

The man waved and walked away, and the two relaxed.

"Weirdos," Penn muttered, and went inside.

"Hello?" He poked his head in, and looked around. There didn't appear to be anyone there, and it was really dark.

"Mr. and Mrs. Zero?" Verge called out. Still nothing. Penn walked inside fully and set his bag down.

There were doors that lead to the cinema, and Penn peeked through them. "Anyone there?" Verge asked.

"Can't see," Penn replied. Giving up, he pushed the doors and walked in.

Up where the screen was supposed to be was a large, weird-looking triangle shaped portal invention that looked severely creepy in the darkness. Penn gasped slightly as he looked around. "Verge, you seeing this?"

"Yeah…" was all the fairy could say. "Penn, what's that?"

She pointed upwards, and the boy saw the blue light and sparks that were flying from the upper level. He tried moving backwards to get a better view. But he screamed as he bumped into someone before he could.

"You are late."

The lights turned on, and the two could now see a short, Slavic woman with a coffee mug in her hand. As she sipped on it, both Penn and Verge were confused. "What—?"

Before he could ask anything, the woman shoved something into him. "Sign this form, remove metal from pockets, stamp time card, part-time job starts now."

"What?" Verge wanted to ask.

"I don't—" Penn started.

"Also…remove part-time fairy guide from hair."

"What?!" Now that Verge was slightly dry, she flew out of Penn's hair as instructed, but she was frowning. "How do you know about me?"

"Was told about you."

"Who?"

"Also, what part-time job?" Penn asked.

"Same as parents. You are protector of all good in infinite universes."

Well, that was straightforward.

"Infinite _what?" _the two said together.

The woman took a sip from her coffee and showed a holographic slideshow. "Infinite universes. You zap to worlds, fill in for heroes who needs your help and save the day." Penn and Verge exchanged looks of shock and utter bewilderment. "You are part-time hero, who has befriended a part-time fairy."

"_Hey, Penn! Verge!" _The two friends then looked back to the entrance and saw a certain boy. "You ready to do this?!"

"Boone?" Penn exclaimed. "You're a half-time hero too?"

"Negatory! I am the part-time _Wiseman. _Me gots the brains."

"No, really," Verge frowned. "What are you?"

"I'm serious! It's in my name, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but…it's not…always…true?"

"Our friendship is over."

"I'm kidding!"

Turning his attention away from that, Penn frowned up at technician. "What happened? Where are my parents?"

"Something happened little terrible last mission. Is OK. They are alive. Just, uh…trapped forever in…Most Dangerous World…Imaginable…" She said that part so soft, she'd hoped they wouldn't hear it.

But the two heard it loud and clear. Verge flew up to the platform, took the woman by her overalls, and screamed, _"WHAT?!"_

"D-Dangerous—Did you just say Most Dangerous World Imaginable?" Penn said in horror. "You sent them to a place called _the Most Dangerous World Imaginable?"_

"_They _sent _themselves,"_ the woman corrected. "They ask to go. To save all universes. To save _you_. Both of you. They knew the risks."

As Verge lowered back to Penn, she sat on his shoulder and looked up at him. Her friend looked ready to go up in tears.

"The crybaby better not be _my_ part-time hero."

The two looked over to the side and saw the same girl from earlier. That bully. She reached into her bag, and brought out some glasses. "That would waste thirteen years of sidekick-training." She smiled as the glasses flashed over her eyes. But before she could say anything, Verge went up in a fit.

"_You!" _

The fairy turned human size as she jumped off Penn's shoulder and tackled the girl. She barely had a chance. As Verge landed on top, she raised her fist, ready to smack the glasses off, but Boone pulled her just in time.

"Whoa, whoa, Verge!" he shouted out, as the fairy tried struggling.

"Unhand me! I've been wanting to fight since this morning!"

Instead of getting intimidated, the girl sat up and glared. "I've never seen _you_ before and I don't know _what _you want with me—"

"I'll teach you a thing or two about messing with my friends!" Verge shouted.

The brunette only huffed. "So you're going to be the part-time fairy…" When she saw Boone restraining her, she glared again. "And _that? _What's the deal, old lady—"

Before she could say any more, the woman pressed a button and the girl was trapped in a green spotlight. The light seemed to stop her from talking. The more she screamed, the more they couldn't hear her. Verge relaxed, and admitted she liked this.

"This is team," the old woman introduced. The violent girl began to push Penn onto the platform in front as they were being presented. "Sashi, part-time sidekick. Boone, part-time Wiseman. Detergent—"

"It's Divergent," Verge mumbled. "Verge, for short."

"—Part-time fairy guide. And Penn Zero, part-time hero."

The redhead's eyes widened at that.

"OK, we begin."

"Wait, there's no space for me on the platform," Verge spoke up.

"You are fairy, yes? Fairies fly."

The golden-winged girl hesitated for a while, before flying up and positioned herself directly above Boone. As her wings fluttered, she had to smile. "Cool."

The technician flipped a switch, and a blue sparky light hit them. The triangular portal opened up from behind and showed a picture of a different dimension. Penn was still confused as he spoke up. "Whoa, whoa, what? Now?!"

Everything died down. "What is problem?"

"Yeah! I am not a hero. I am a kid, who found out three seconds ago that his parents are now trapped in a crazy, dangerous, alternate universe." Realizing that was just the problem, the mechanic flipped the switch again as Penn continued. Even when they began floating in the air, he was ranting. "I am not ready for this in any way, and frankly shocked—"

"Penn Zero," the mechanic sighed. "No one is ever ready. You should act like fairy guide."

"Yeah, Zero, act like me." Verge was fascinated by the blue sparks thing and the anti-gravity light. She was tucking her wings in and spinning herself forward in a little human ball. Boone and the girl named Sashi stared at her – with Sashi rolling her eyes a bit – and Penn only frowned.

"I can't do that."

"Oh…too bad then."

"Good luck!"

The woman smiled as she started the portal. There was a brilliant blue flash, and they were all _zapped._

* * *

When Penn first opened his eyes, he screamed. They were most definitely _not_ in Middleburg anymore. _"GAH, WHOA, what just happened?!_ Why are there three moons?!"

"Zero!" Penn looked up to see Verge was flying around, spinning as she enjoyed the new air they were in. "This place feels awesome!" She seemed to be wearing something identical to him, but Penn didn't want to know why they even changed outfits.

"Quiet!" Sashi hissed at them. "You'll give away our position."

Penn took one look at the giant spider-like robots that were incinerating people to bits and immediately freaked out as he hid behind Sashi. _"We are all going to die!" _Sashi was ultimately disgusted by this.

"Whee~"

"_Verge! _Get back here!"

"Aww, but let them! Hey! Giant scraps of metal! Over here!" A spider robot shot a laser at her, but Verge quickly laughed as she turned smaller.

Penn and Boone were usually used to the little acts Verge did – minus the robot bit – but Sashi was clearly infuriated. She glared at Penn. "Can you please tell your little house fly to stop goofing around?!"

There was nothing that snapped Verge more than being called something as lowly as a fly. She practically dashed over to the hiding place, turned bigger, held a fistful of Sashi's armor in her hand, and glared daggers from her pale blue eyes into her dark brown ones. "Oh, boy," Penn muttered.

"_Call me that again and I'll have all forces of nature curse your soul to the depths of hell."_

For a moment, there was a bit of shock in Sashi's eyes. But she smirked, took Verge's hand, and kept it away from her. "So you have some fire in you, huh…"

"Uh, _hello?!" _Penn shouted. "Is anyone not realizing our situation right now?!"

"Relax," Boone said calmly. "I've seen this a thousand times. The reluctant hero forced to act before you've gained the courage to do so. But, _believe me, _a hero lies within that child-like ninety-pound body, and you will rise to the challenge and save the day! And if you can believe in yourself, there is _nothing_ that will _ever _stop you!"

"He's got a point," Verge piped in.

"…You have to say something, Divergent?"

"Sure I did."

Penn smiled and stood up. He looked pretty determined now. "Tha—"

Before he could even say anything, he was obliterated.

The robot-spider walked away casually. All that was left were Penn's feet. Verge had a hard time keeping herself aloft and just collapsed onto the ground. The moment she did, the technician's voice sounded out.

"_Training simulation terminated."_

With that, there was that blue flash and they were zapped once more.

* * *

Penn came out of the portal screaming too. Once he was back and realized he was alive, Verge flew down, and he grabbed his head. "Whoa—"

"I. Died. I _died, Verge!" _Yep, he was insane for about a few seconds.

"Zero, calm down!"

He did, but he still glared at the technician. "That was _completely _unacceptable."

She ignored him. "OK, training over. Now for reals."

She pressed a button, and the training portal was switched with the new one. This was now connected to most of the wires in the room, and actually looked like a proper, has-been-working portal. However, Penn wasn't at all excited.

"What—No, I cannot do this! I won't! I'm not a hero! _I quit!"_

As he said that, Verge shrunk. "What? Already?"

"Come on, Verge!" Grabbing hold of her, he stuffed the fairy in his pocket and stormed out of the room.

"Zero, please reconsider," Verge pleaded as he shouldered his bag.

"I _can't,_ Verge. Don't you see? I'm not cut out for that."

"But your parents—"

"We'll find out about everything in the morning…I guess now that they're not there, we have the house to ourselves…" He tried to force a smile.

"Zero, don't give me that, I know you're upset inside." Verge knew her friend well, and she hated to see him like this. "You know I'm missing them too…"

When Penn looked down and saw her hurt face, he softened. Of course Verge felt the same way. Though he obviously knew his parents more…Verge was still family.

"I know…" He smiled and opened the door. It was still raining, but Penn thought he could handle it. "Tell you what? In the morning, let's try getting through this together, huh? We'll figure something out."

Though the fairy was unsure, she couldn't really say no at the moment. "Yeah…OK."

* * *

For the first time ever, Verge woke up before Penn. She had slept early for once last night, after Penn had been tossing and turning, still thinking of his parents. The fairy was clearly the opposite; thinking of sad moments helps her sleep. So when she woke up first, she rubbed her eyes and frowned at her roommate. His behind was in the air and he was snoring soundly, but Verge could tell otherwise.

As she began to stand, she noticed shadows coming up the stairs. She was readying her powers, but stopped when she realized who the shadows belonged to.

"Hi, Detergent!"

"Uncle Chuck? Aunt Rose?" Verge frowned when she saw the two. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We'll explain when Pennsylvania wakes up," Uncle Chuck grinned as they hovered over the sleeping redhead. When their shadows hit his eyes, the boy opened one eye, rubbed both, and sat up.

"Mom, Dad, I had the weirdest dream- _Ah!"_

Verge just had to grin at his reaction.

_"~Good morning, good morning  
__Get out of bed  
Wake up, wake up, wake up  
Sleepyhead!~"_

"Oh, dust."

"Uncle Chuck? Aunt Rose?" Penn frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we're here to take care of you," Chuck replied. "Until your parents figure out their little...situation."

"By little situation do you mean trapped in the Most Dangerous World Imaginable?!" The redhead was wide awake now.

"Yeah, but I got hash browns!"

The man brought a plate out, and a Chinchilla was found sitting on it. It seemed to be chewing on a hash brown angrily as it hissed.

"You put raisins in your hash browns?"

"Those aren't raisins."

The Chinchilla hissed again.

_"So cute!" _Verge, being the animal lover she was, instantly flew over to the tiny created and hugged it. The Chinchilla hissed – even more loudly – but stopped when the fairy rubbed its little head. It began to give in, purred, and enjoyed the petting; so much that it dropped another raisin.

"Get outta here!" Penn ordered, shooing his aunt and uncle away as he grabbed Verge back.

_"~We're leaving, we're leaving…~"_

"Awkward," Verge laughed lightly as they exited.

But Penn wasn't laughing. He was holding his head as he stared down at the floor, just staying in that position like a statue, frowning only more as he thought. Verge looked at him in confusion. "Zero?"

"That wasn't a dream, Verge…"

Of course he would still be in shock. The fairy was too. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw her friend's condition and hovered over to him, ready to pat his shoulder. "Penn—"

The moment she tried, something burst through the room window and he screamed. Upon closer view, the two realized it was a grappling hook. And up and climbed in was Sashi, the girl from yesterday.

"You need to get it together, man," she said immediately, glaring at the redhead. "I didn't train my whole life to have my career de-railed by a weenie."

"Zero is not a weenie," Verge defended. "Why are you here? This is breaking and entering."

"Not if you welcome me in."

"We didn't."

"Too bad, you did now."

Penn squinted his eyes at the brunette. "Yeah? Well, if you want it so bad, you scary little ninja, _you _be the hero. You're more than qualified!"

Sashi then walked over to his punching bag and was harassing it as she spoke. "I don't wanna be the hero! Sidekicks specialize in _kicking _and _fighting _and _destroying_ and _ripping things apart!"_

Later, they ended up with shredded up bag and a panting girl/

"That actually costs hundreds of dollars," was all Penn said. "Saved up for a year for it. I mean, I could call the police at this point."

"Also. The hero us supposed to be the one closer with the fairy guide. And as you saw us yesterday—"

"Yeah, not a good scene." Verge looked over at Penn, as she was hovering slightly away from his shoulder, and they exchanged a glance.

"…I guess, yeah, Verge and I are really close…I mean, you do watch out for me a lot…"

"By the way, Sashi was it? You gotta pay for the punching bag."

The brunette threw her hands up in the air. "I'll get you a new one! Look, I can only achieve _my _best if you're at _your _best too." She picked up an electric guitar of Penn's and broke it in half as she continued. "Or if you die on a mission and is replaced by someone who's _actually _qualified."

"A hundred and fifty! You really are wasting money, you know?"

But Penn wasn't even all that bothered as he glared at the brunette. "You're demonstrating some very worrisome tendencies."

"Do you have _any _skills?" she demanded.

"Well...I'm _~pretty good at makin' up songs!~"_

That earned a karate chop to the shoulder, and Penn collapsed onto the ground, choking and coughing.

As Verge grew larger and helped him to his seat, Sashi glared down at her as well. "And you. Can you do anything else other than that?"

The fairy shot a glare right back. "I don't speak to anyone not worthy enough to speak to a fairy."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Whatever. See you at school."

With a professional flip, she was gone out the window.

"That girl is weird," Verge murmured,, standing up. "But surprisingly…right."

Penn frowned, Indian-sitting. "What do you mean?"

_"I mean_ that a hero really is important and I think you can do this, but someone else other than her and me needs to convince you more."

Before Penn could reply, they heard a buzzing. It was just coming out of nowhere, and they perked up and began looking around. Instantly, they asked each other questions.

"What's that noise?"

"I don't know."

"Is it a bee?"

"Definitely not."

"Shh, I hear it again."

"It's coming from under your bed."

Penn knelt and crawled, as he saw a shiny silver box from underneath there. He pulled it out and sat on his mattress, examining it. As the two wiped the dust off, one symbol could be visible on the cover: a 0 with a line slashed through it. The symbol popped out, like it was unlocking itself, and smoke poured out as it opened. Penn and Verge coughed, but the fairy used wind to blow it away. From there, they saw a single circular device with a triangle screen in the middle; and it seemed to be the source of the buzzing. As Penn brought it out, the two looked at each other.

"Go ahead," Verge encouraged.

Penn trusted her. So he obeyed.

He answered the call.

A holographic screen popped out like light and they could see one person there.

"Haha! There they are."

"Dad!" Penn cried.

"Mr. Zero!" The fairy flew forward. "You're alive!"

"You're OK!"

Brock only seemed to grin at the kids. "Hey, was the smoke cool? Your mom thought it might be a little too much but it was a big moment!"

"Well, I sure had a good time blowing it away!"

And that's when his wife came up to the screen as well. "Is that Penn? Verge?"

"Mrs. Zero!"

"Mom?" Penn exclaimed, getting even more excited. "That crazy theatre lady said that you were in the Most Dangerous World Imaginable!"

There was a bit of a pause. Brock hesitated. "That is a bit of an exaggeration."

Vonnie suddenly looked up. "Incoming!"

A yellow-green robo-dragon just dropped out of nowhere and ate him whole.

_"Dad!/Mr. Zero!"_

However, his wife grabbed the dragon right off – the blonde man was completely fine – and she flung it away, As mire dragons appeared, the couple easily punched them back and forth. The kids on the other line stared.

"Whoa…"

"Your parents are awesome."

"I know, right."

After a bit more fighting, the adults turned back to them and Vonnie smiled. "OK, we _are_ in the Most Dangerous World Imaginable. But we're getting _lots_ of exercise." She put emphasis to this as she kicked away another robot.

"We would've told you, but we wanted you to have a normal childhood." Brock watched as another robot landed in front of them, and he kicked that one towards the screen. Penn screamed and ducked, thinking it was coming towards him, but there was no impact. Once recovered, he glared a little.

"Normal? We live with a _fairy. _My life since age eight years old has been far from normal! No offense, Verge."

"None taken."

"This is different, honey," Vonnie grunted as she and her husband were playing tug of war with another dragon.

"We didn't want to bury you in anxiety," Brock continued. "Not worrying about the balance of good and evil, teetering on the brink of destruction everyday, _which it is!" _He let out a yell as a giant hand took hold of him, but with his strength, easily bit it and flung it away. _"It always is!"_

"Yes…" Verge said slowly. "It's too late for that now, huh?"

"We know it's a _lot _of responsibility," the mother admitted. "And so are your pet fish!"

Penn and Verge instantly turned to the desk and had a look at the fish tank in the room. Two goldfish were merely floating on the water, clearly dead, as one of them even began sinking. "Goldie and Swimmie aren't exactly here right now."

"Uh…" Penn looked at his parents with a worried expression. "I don't know if I can do it."

"Of course you can!" Brock insisted.

"We believe in you, honey! And Verge, you too!"

"Me?" the fairy asked.

"Yes! You know, when we first found you, we instantly knew we were fated to raise you! But over time—" She was cut off when there were _more _robots trying to attack, and the elder woman had to turn away and punch them once again. The couple grew annoyed as they fought once again.

"But over time," Brock filled in. "We figured one day…you'd make a great fairy guide for our son!"

"We just knew you were going to get along!" Finally ripping the robots' batteries out, the couple turned back to the screen. "Over the years, we completely trusted you."

"Wow…thanks." Honestly, what else could she say?

"You two better look out for each other!"

"We will," Penn promised, as the two smiled at each other. But they grew sad again when they looked back at the screen. Before Penn could say something else, the blonde man looked upwards and gasped.

_"Holy moly!"_

Some mutant animal with an old man for a head tackled Brock to the ground and Vonnie struggled to hurry with her speech.

"And don't worry about saving the world! Just worry about being yourself! Both of you!" An animal was attacking her, and she added, "But also save the world." As she was tackled down, Penn and Verge shot up.

_"Mom!/ Mrs. Zero!"_

Luckily, the Zero couple immediately got up and started stretching the mutant. "Just promise me one thing, you two," Brock said as he let go. "And don't matter what happens."

"Yeah?/Sure."

"You won't let Uncle Chuck use my toilet."

The last thing they saw before the call ended was Vonnie holding a giant eyeball.

"Bye…"

_"Why?! Why did you suffer this fate?!"_

"Verge, I'm just as annoyed as you are." Penn waited for the fairy to grow bigger before placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I know that…but, Zero, you know that they're right, right?"

"About what?"

"…You…_we_ can do this."

The redhead hesitated. He turned to his bed, where the shiny box lay. He blinked, lifted his head, and smiled.

"You know what, Vergie? I think you're right."

"Of course I am."

* * *

Penn was walking into the Odyssey after school that very day. As they entered the old movie theatre, Verge popped out of his hair and looked around, with the boy doing the same as he rubbed the back of his head. Retreating back outside, Penn let out a shout as he barged in fully, getting in a fighting stance. As cautious as he thought he was, Verge rolled her eyes at how stupid he looked and at the fact he didn't notice the construction noise. She pointed upwards, where the theatre lady was working. Penn cleared his throat, feeling awkward immediately. "Hey. Yes. Hello…uh, Cappy."

The Slavic woman looked annoyed. "Is Phyllis."

"Glad to finally know," Verge scoffed, as she grew bigger.

"Phyllis," Penn mused. "Yes, look. Since it's our first zap, why not just take it easy on us, you know, maybe a beginner world?"

"I don't choose the world."

"Right…no, yeah, that I totally understand. It's just, if the hero is supposed to win, wouldn't it be better if we could go to a place where I won't immediately die?!"

Phyllis closed the hatch she was working on.

"I know, I know, you don't choose the world."

The woman turned to Verge. "Is he this slow."

Verge crossed her arms, shrugging. "I don't tell you everything."

Phyllis shook her head and turned to the boy. "No. But they chose your parents. And they chose you." She pointed her wrench at them for emphasis. The two exchanged wary looks.

But after a brief hesitation, they smiled together.

They walked into the cinema as Phyllis lowered herself. Their new teammates were waiting for them as they got onto the zap platform. Boone seemed pleased that his friends had returned. Sashi nodded at Penn, as if confirming he was "safe". The boy looked up and Verge gave a thumbs up. "All right, Phyllis. Zap One. Any words of advice?"

"Yes…Yes. What was it…it was something on mind, I forget…"

As she was speaking, they were hit with a blue light from before and the team was lifted into the air once again. As Verge frowned at how worried Penn looked, how calm Boone was, and how excited Sashi seemed to be in ready to kill someone, Phyllis pushed the lever quickly.

_"Oh, anyway good luck."_

For the first time – officially – they were zapped.

* * *

Verge felt tingly. The zap in the training simulator was fake, so this first one felt especially real. For about a full second, she felt nothing. Like air, she was non-existent, but at the same time she was. But when they arrived at their mission world, everything became solid again. Verge's clothes had turned into a dress of her usual colored-leaf mess. Her brown hair was pulled back by flower stems that matched her blue orbs, and she touched it petitely. As the fairy clearly enjoyed her form, so did some of the team. Boone was grinning from ear to ear as he gazed at himself.

"Oh, yeah! I am a pajama person!"

Verge smirked. "Seriously?"

"Wizard." Verge almost gasped when she realized she wasn't the only tiny flying being here.

"Fine. I am a pajama wizard!"

The pale-skinned fairy was looking at the now green-haired teen, who sported very girly-like clothing and even flittered rare, golden wings. "There can only be one," she murmured under her breath.

If Sashi heard her, her blank face could state otherwise.

"So what's the game plan?" Boone pointed his scepter at Penn.

The boy, of course, being the hero was a knight. As the fairy guide hovered over to his armored shoulder, Penn was holding his shield nervously. "Uh, yeah! Glad you asked. The…the plan falls on me, so I will tell you…that…I have no idea."

Sashi didn't even bother hiding her scoff and eye roll.

She pressed something against her pink-rimmed glasses and a holographic screen – similar to the one from the circular device – was seen. Her teammates "ooh"ed at what they saw.

"Cool Specs," Verge said absentmindedly.

Sashi was slightly surprised by the half-compliment. "Thanks…I believe that's what they're called..anyway, you are a brave knight."

"Me or Penn?" Boone asked.

Everyone merely stared at him.

"…Penn?"

More staring.

"I don't know."

"Boone!" Sashi shouted. "You're a wizard! And I am a—"

"Fairy like Verge?" Penn cut in.

_"Winged warrior. _Our mission, using the weapon of our choice, we must defeat the evil sorcerer in an epic battle against his fire-breathing dragon and his army of a billion goblins."

"Cool!" Verge chirped.

Penn was anything but ecstatic. "Not funny. What is it for real?"

_"Look out!"_

Using her protection magic, Verge flew upwards and created a shield that struck out the flames that almost hit them. The heroes barely saw it coming. Boone and Sashi's eyes were widened, but Penn Penn grinned gratefully. It didn't last long, though. As the fire died down, an evil laughter emitted.

_"Hello, students!"_

The sorcerer had arrived and struck the first attack. Upon seeing him, Penn's eyes widened slightly. This was definitely his first time meeting him, but why did he look so familiar?

"You're Rippen, aren't you?" Verge blurted, glaring intensely. "That creepy art teacher from Middleburg!"

"Really?" Penn exclaimed,

Rippen smirked. "Oh, didn't they tell you? I'm the part-time villain!"

"And I'm the part-time minion~!" A voice sang out and a green goblin demon appeared from behind him. He too looked like they've met before.

"Principal Larry!" the fairy recognized again.

Rippen practically face-palmed. "Larry, please don't undermine me, this is our first hero-villain encounter. It's rather important."

"I know, dummy, that's why I made you this!" A large poster appeared from behind them.

Rippen sighed,

"This is so weird," Penn whispered to Verge.

"Just a question." The teacher's red eyes stared directly at Verge. "How do you know our names. I'm pretty sure I've never seen the likes of _you _before."

"I don't know what that's supposed to mean," Verge said slowly. "But I was in Zero's hair the entire day yesterday."

There was a bit of silence.

"…Gazundheit?"

"No, seriously."

"It doesn't suffocate you, or…"

"Nah, it's rather roomy."

"I repeat," Penn said slowly. _"Weird."_

The part-time villain just smirked at his uneasiness. "Goblins, get them!"

There was growling sounds and slow advancing.

"OK, you're a knight," Sashi reminded. "Be the knight!"

"Right," Penn said hesitantly. Knowing him, Verge could tell he was really terrified right now, despite how much he tried to hide it. "Be the knight…you can do this."

As he unsheathed his sword, it slipped right out of his grasp and flew into the empty hand of a goblin's. "Thank you," it called out.

The team turned back to the army, with Penn looking at it with a whole new level of terror. As they got closer, that was enough to make him break.

He turned around, screaming as he took off.

"Zero!"

"You can't just run!" Sashi yelled.

"Uh, I'm not running, this is a fast-walk." He stopped when he got surrounded. "Maybe a mosey…"

"You've got to be kidding," Verge stared, flabbergasted. So this was her "hero".

_"Boone, use your magic!"_

_"On it!" _However, when the Wiseman shot a spell from his scepter, it bounced off a building and knocked it down, blocking the only exit they could ever use.

To make things worse, the spell hit a goblin, making it grow to ten times its size. Frankly, when you're ten feet tall, you could get quite intimidating,

_"You're got to be kidding me!" _Granted the position they were in, right now was the right time to shout to the skies.

Rippen was laughing as the heroes were surrounded and completely outnumbered. He lowered his dragon to the ground, just smirking evilly as he was so close to underestimation. As he got off, his smile did not leave his face. "Oh, I _knew _this would be easy! But I mean, come on, I thought you'd have a little _fight _after what I did to your Mummy and Daddy."

His words made something in Penn's heart crush his soul. "It was _you?"_

_"Yeah," _the older man mocked. "Now with no heroes to stop me, my part-time days are over."

Now, Penn's expressions were exchanged with those of utter hatred.

Verge was especially angry at the villain. She flew forward, just inches away from his face to put emphasis to her wrathful gaze. "I will punch you so hard, you'll zap back to a different dimension."

Rippen didn't bother hiding his smirk. "Really? How exactly will you do that?"

After one flip, a quick flash of light, and now just hovering over the ground, Verge was bigger in front of him for the first time, and she was _shooting daggers _as she cracked her knuckles. _"I don't tell you everything."_

"Verge, don't," Penn warned, still looking at Rippen like he was the most disgusting thing in the world. "It's not worth it."

The man seemed to relax. "Wise choice. And anyway, these worlds would crumble with the real hero. Why would they have a chance with _you?"_

He laughed once again, and everyone else joined in. Penn lost his anger and watched as he was getting chortled at, with the mere fact that his own failure lead to their amusement. This caused him to grimace more. His friends were getting worried for him as well, and that didn't match Sashi's usually violent personality. She and Boone exchanged looks as Verge held her friend by the shoulders.

"Zero, you can't listen to them," she said sternly, almost pleading.

Penn merely shook his head. "No, Verge. Why _would_ they have a chance with me…" He had a thinking face on, and the fairy noticed. Her worries melted into an enigma, and she tilted her head at him.

Slowly, he smiled.

"You know what? You're right."

"Me or Rippen?" Verge had to ask.

Everyone stared.

"No, seriously."

Taking her hand firmly and slowly setting it down, Penn looked over at the villain. "Everywhere you go, you'll always know what the real hero is supposed to do. But that's _good _'cause I'm not the real hero! I'm a total dork!"

"Oho, 'kay, what are you blabbering about?" Rippen questioned.

Penn turned to Verge again and smiled weakly. "You trust me, right?"

"Well, yeah, but what does this have to—"

"Good." Penn walked over to the villain. "I accept."

That pleased the sorcerer. "Ha! Four kids versus an army of a billion, _and_ me, _and _a dragon?"

_"And me?" _Larry piped. "With s'mores?" Verge secretly stole one and ate it whole.

"So I get to choose the weapon we battle with?" Penn clarified.

"That's right," Rippen confirmed.

"Then the weapon…I choose…" He took an axe, held it up…and positioned it like a guitar. "…_is rock and roll!"_

Everyone exchanged looks.

"W-What?" Rippen stuttered. "Y-You can't—"

"Boone? Hook it up!"

"On it!" Twirling his scepter, the Wiseman finally cast a perfect spell at the hero.

Penn was surrounded by blue mist, as it started getting larger and larger. The boy's shadow appeared through it no sooner after, and was followed by a strong guitar chord. It sounded out through the evil fortress, and throughout the dimension. Lightning struck in the skies – for special background effect – and all the goblins could think was contemplate how amazing this sound was.

"Oh, yeah!" Verge cheered, flying upwards happily. "This is gonna be good!"

_"~You want an epic battle  
__That's exactly what you're gonna get~"_

With his raging rock look and guitar, he easily knocked down goblins with the power of sound.

_"~Rock to the medieval countryside  
__And never miss a fret!~"_

The boy jumped onto the giant goblin with the help of Verge. She had recently sprinkled him with special golden fairy dust that caused anyone under its influence to fly. Penn had easily gotten onto the large creature's head as he got it to lose its balance.

_"~What's my name?  
__My name is Penn Zero  
__What's my name?  
__My name is Penn Zero!~"_

Boone had gotten so excited that he gave himself a new look as well. He created drums, and started pounding away on them, but not before he spelled Sashi and Verge as well.

Sashi's fairy image turned to those of a demon's, and she seemed satisfied with that, as she knocked goblin's out with her fast-flying and bass-playing. Verge didn't want much of a change, and she was glad Boone knew. Her brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and her leaf dress was exchanged with a tie-dyed shirt, spiky, red leather jacket, and complete with pocket-chain black shorts and matching knee-high boots. Vines and flower-like jewelry were displayed on her neck choker and wrists, as she played a keytar furiously.

Her happiness and excitement seethed out and was exposed as it caused her powers to go full out. As each team member got turn to sing, her power got stronger.

_"~His name is Penn Zero  
__He's an ordinary kid~"_

Boone expertly drummed away like there was no tomorrow. Sashi was riling goblins up while at the same time, trapping them in her own mini tornado of pink.

_"~But he's gonna blow your house down~"_

_"~And that's exactly what I did!~"_

With of slam of his guitar end at the floor, Penn caused goblins to collapse again. While that happened, Verge shot sharp grass, water, snowballs, anything she could possibly hurl and harm at the creatures as she shone on them from the air. The team members gazed up, grinning widely.

_"~He's gonna rock your world  
__Do it one at a time~"_

Penn flew up to her, they were back-to-back, as they together unleashed a fury of song and gust.

_"~With my Wiseman, Sidekick  
__And Fairy Guide~"_

Verge flew over and sprinkled Boone as well. He started to float in the air as well, while causing the drums to beat by themselves for a moment. Penn was carried by the goblins over the large army.

_"~Oh, it's a rageous rock battle  
__So let the stage burn~"_

With one throw and jump, the four heroes gathered together as they landed on top of the fortress.

_"~Four kids versus a million  
__Take the mic, it's your turn!~"_

Penn was the one grinning now as he pointed at a flustered Rippen. Larry shot him with a spell and he tried singing with an accordion.

_"~I am Rippen  
__And I can also rock  
__I'd climb a mighty dragon  
__And fly it to the top~"_

While at his horrible attempt at singing, Verge played a combined note on her keytar, and that caused a rumble in the Earth. A portion of the land began to rise and act as Penn's stage. Boone used his scepter drumsticks to create more lights, larger speakers, and grander fireworks. As Rippen sang, the goblins grumbled and just went over to Penn's side. "Well, at least wait for the second verse!" he complained.

Feeling the love, Penn was grinning madly as he blasted Rippen's accordion to bits.

_"~No one's waiting for the second verse  
__We're coming for you in every universe!~"_

"You're a fool!" Rippen hissed. "I outsmarted your parents! Who do you think you are?!"

After being swept away by magical blue wind, Penn struck one last power chord as he sang. The sonic boom literally knocked the whole army down, causing their fall – or maybe their _blow. _As Rippen and Larry flew off into the distance, the boy shouted with such pride.

_"~My name is Penn Zero  
__And I'm here to save the world!  
__My name is Penn Zero  
__I'm a part-time hero!~"_

The four sealed the deal by bumping their fists together at the same time.

"I don't like to admit I was wrong about someone, so I won't." Sashi smirked as she punched Penn's shoulder. Even small, it still hurt.

"Ah, thank you."

Surprisingly, Verge was laughing really hard. Penn turned to her in confusion, and the blue-eyed fairy patted her best friend's shoulder happily. "I _knew _it. I _knew _you wouldn't let us down."

Penn had to chuckle at that. "Thanks, Verge. Like with everyone else…couldn't have done it without you." Verge's eyes sparkled.

"Hey," Sashi said, flying over. "You…uh…" She seemed really hesitant to say something. "You've got good fighting skills out there."

The brown-haired fairy grinned. "It's called 'magic.' And, not so bad yourself."

Sashi shrugged. "Whatever you say." Then she smiled. "Maybe we can be friends after all."

"Great!" Verge glanced over at Penn and he gave a thumbs up. She nodded briefly, lit up, and turned to Boone. "You too, Wiseman. Nice 'spelling' there for a man in a dress."

The boy beamed widely. "Thanks! Though I really wish I could keep these pajamas—"

Before he could even finish his sentence, they were zapped back home.

* * *

Upon arriving back, Penn could not have smiled any wider.

* * *

That night, Penn was sitting in his bed. He was looking pretty sad once again, and Verge noticed. As he held the special box his parents gave him, Verge flew over to him. "Zero-"

"I know, I know," he said. It was surprising to see the smile on his face. "You were going to say something about my parents, right? Well, save your breath. I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You sound like a girl right now, and if there's one thing any girl would want when they're sad, it's comfort."

Penn playfully rolled his eyes. _'Typical Verge.'_

Verge walked over to him, placed a hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. "You were always there for me when I was sad or thinking about my lost home. We're like siblings. I'm here for you, Penn."

The smile on Penn's face melted away. He was staring at the ground, nodding slightly. "Thanks Verge…I guess we both know what it's like to lose our families now, huh?"

"Nope," she said. "You didn't lose all your family, you know." She raised an eyebrow at him knowingly.

Penn chuckled a bit. "Yeah, you're right…"

"We're all here for you, Zero," Verge shrunk small-sized and flew to his shoulder. "It's all going to be just fine. Your parents will continue to save the world in that trapped dimension."

The red-haired boy nodded, assured. "Well…guess that means one thing."

"Stay up past bedtime!"

"What—No. We have to fill in for them, don't we?"

"Ohhh…right, right! Especially now that you proved yourself at this mission. I think we'll be fine." She gave a playful smile. "With a Zero for a leader, I know we will."

"Well...thanks." Penn smirked for a bit, but then slightly hesitated. "Do you really think I can do it? Be a part-time hero, I mean?"

"Sure you can!" Verge gave a salute. "You know, you keep doubting yourself. But today, you proved _yourself _wrong. I said it once, I'll say it again: you can do it, Zero. And with your trusty fairy on you shoulder and Boone and Sashi on either side, we'll be invincible!" She stood on top of his red hair and beamed. "Trust me."

Penn did. He grinned widely up at her, as the two stared into a mirror. He could do this. He held his finger out to her and she bumped it with her fist. Penn gave a fist pump of determination.

"We'll be the best team!"

Verge laughed. "I know we will."

As their laughter died down, Penn turned to the box again, examining the symbol over it. He smiled and shook it lightly. There seemed to be something inside...

A hatch popped out from under it, and the two exchanged looks as they turned it over. A new shirt was inside.

"Wow," was all Penn said.

Verge reached it and held it up, handing it over as Penn examined the front. On it was the very symbol that was on the box, and Penn couldn't have looked any prouder as he grasped it over himself tightly.

"It suits you," Verge said. Penn looked at her, surprised as he noticed it wasn't another outburst, and a little surprised she wasn't bothered by the fact she didn't get anything.

He smiled anyway. "Thanks."

"There's something else in there..."

Looking back, Penn grinned as he reached in and pulled it out. "Oh, chain mail? Cool!"

Verge turned smaller in happiness and clapped her hands together. "Try it on!" she said eagerly.

Penn didn't need to be told twice. After putting the chain mail on first, he then placed his shirt over it, glancing down at himself in pride. Yep, he was going to be wearing this for the rest of his life. As he looked up at Verge, she was grinning as well as she gave a thumbs up.

But this was only the start of a new beginning.

* * *

"What's wrong, you forget this was flashback?"

Penn was snapped back to reality when Phyllis took off the flashback helmet and slapped his hair back in place.

"Oh, you know, Penn, that chain mail shirt was in there by accident," Brock's voice sounded out.

He looked up and saw that his parents' MUHU screen had decided to join in and they seemed to have watched the whole episode. "It was part of a Halloween costume," Vonnie confirmed.

His eyes widened, then turned to the cinema seats as his teammates seemed to be enjoying themselves. He was even more embarrassed now. "Oh. OK, cool. Uh...fiftieth zap? Let's do this guys!"

"You bet," Verge was still chuckling at the scenes she saw but quickly flew over and gave him a tiny fist-bump, but Brock interrupted once again.

"Not actually metal, more a breathable cheap plastic mesh...for ladies, but you make it work, go with it buddy."

"OK, not helping, Dad, trying to get in the zone here-"

"-Wore it in the night of our tenth anniversary, I won't go into the deets-"

_"OK, just zap us already!"_

"Zero, don't let this spoil the moment," Verge coaxed, as the blue light hit them. His friends nodded in agreement, as they were already drowning out the adults' words. Penn looked at them, rather surprised, but he chuckled almost instantly and forgot all their troubles.

"Yeah...OK."

* * *

**OK I might post the next episode by tomorrow or by next week. I'm super busy again! D: This was the longest episode I've done so far! **

**Hope you likey :3**


	45. Save The Worlds

**Episode 38: Save the Worlds**

* * *

**YAY FINAL EPISODE**

**WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE HOW **_**ALMOST **_**RELIEVED I FEEL.**

**YEAH I SAID IT ONCE I'LL SAY IT AGAIN**

**THIS ISN'T THE LAST EP OF THIS STORY BUT I HOPE YOU'LL ENJOY IT**

* * *

One fine afternoon, after school, our favorite quartet was preparing to depart for their part-time job that day. That day had been one of the rare occasions Verge disguised as a human and wore her red vest. The friends were putting their stuff together when Boone decided to show them something.

"Check it out! I traded Phyllis a crate of my mom's famous meatloaf in exchange for her turning my locker into a freezer." A cold wind hit the four, and they saw that the boy's entire case was completely frozen. Boone brought a box out and inside, there was a popsicle. His friends looked at him strangely, but Verge happily took the treat and licked it.

"Mm. Strawberry."

"_Help! Ayuadame!"_

"What's happening?" The four instantly broke into a run. The yells were coming from the cafeteria.

"Help me, help me!" They turned to the corner and saw Coach Edsgard getting pelted with…prickly pears? Someone was sling-shooting them at him.

"You're under arrest! For not wearing a hat!"

The quartet inwardly gasped at the person that was saying this.

"That's…that's…that's Sheriff Scaly Briggs!" Penn exclaimed.

"It _can't _be Sheriff Scaly Briggs!" Sashi argued.

"Sure looks like Sheriff Scaly Briggs," Verge shot back.

Boone took a whiff and wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, he _smells _like Sheriff Scaly Briggs!"

The Coach only whimpered more as he got shot again.

"Go on, Zero," the fairy whispered.

Penn took a step forward. "Sheriff Scaly Briggs?"

The older man turned to him. "That's Sheriff Scaly Briggs!"

Someone in the Dramatic Banjo Club randomly played his little theme song tune.

Penn rolled his eyes and began pushing him out the door. "I say your name the exact way you say it: Sheriff Scaly Briggs."

The sheriff didn't seem to be quite finished with the coach as they were exiting. "You're getting off easy. For now, you can wear my spare hat." He took off his sheriff's hat, where a smaller, girlier hat lay, and tossed it over the Middleburg man's head.

With that said, the five left the school.

"This is all so weird," Verge murmured, her arms crossed. They were now on their way to the Odyssey, but clearly, a lot of questions were on their minds. "Why is he here? He _shouldn't _be here!"

"Calm down, Verge," Penn coaxed, then turning to the old man. "Now, Sheriff. My friends and I look a little different, but uh, we've met you!"

"Maybe I did have with three of you, but I do remember one of ya'll being a cowfairy," he said.

"Yeah, the wings are hidden," Verge nodded. "Long story."

"But yeah, other than that," Penn cleared his throat. "We've met you, twice before when we traveled to Big Butt."

"_Butte," _Sashi snapped. "It's pronounced _Butte."_

"Actually, it's pronounced _butt,"_ the sheriff confirmed. "Named after Herkamerf Butte, whose famously had a big butt."

"Uh, thanks," Penn said awkwardly. "For that little nugget of butt history but, how did you get here?"

"It all started at the Big Butte talent show…" He started telling his tale as the five continued on walking. "I was in the middle of my tiny dinosaur juggling act - the town was loving it – when suddenly, I was surrounded by blue light. And I found myself in what looked like a dino barn, except it was full of ugly chairs and cheap carpet. I followed some sort of elf, and tried to trade my boots for him for his dino bag, but the little critter ran away. I chased him barefoot to that giant mansion with books and desks."

Upon arriving at the Odyssey, Penn and Verge exchanged confused looks. "We call that a school," the redhead said, pushing the doors open. "I feel like you should know that."

"This is _way _messed up," Verge was getting more worried now. "Do you think Phyllis knows about this?"

"_Chillax, _Vergie! I _think _she does know. Anyway, I don't know how you ended up here in Middleburg. We're just lucky only you zapped in—_Oh, what is happening?!"_

The MUT was going haywire. The big triangular screen was malfunctioning pretty badly. It was displaying many dimensions, one by one, with some even cracking a bit. Up at front, Captain Super Captain from Superhero World and Nugg from Spy Caveman World were there. Nug seemed to be attacking a seat with a stick as the Captain flew over to the quartet and held up his bucket of popcorn. _"~Where can Captain Super Captain get more hot butter?~"_

Up at her techs, Phyllis seemed to be fixing the mechanics of the MUT. She was having pretty much difficulty in doing so, as the new-zappers were distracting her every so often. She glared down at the Captain and answered him in his same tone. _"~Stop asking annoying questions!~ _And you, Cavewoman, stop attacking chair."

"Chair attack Nug first!" the dirty-blonde grunted.

Now, the MUT seemed calm, but the heroes and everyone else were severely confused. Penn looked up at the technician. "Assuming this isn't the weirdest dream I've ever had…what's going on?"

Phyllis lowered herself and started up a movie. "Security footage will answer everything."

Verge scoffed. "Well, this better." She took her vest off, and began flying upwards and into an imaginary seat.

Everyone gathered up at the front as Karen the Bear appeared out of nowhere, and was playing background organ music. The collar around her neck seemed to be helping her be capable of doing that, and Phyllis began narrating:

"To stop us from being able to zap to other world, Phil dig tunnel in theatre, then he and Rippen use large fish to destroy Multi-Universe Transprojector. But before they could finish job, Karen the Security Bear chase them out."

The words on the footage showed Rippen screaming out, _"You never said anything about a bear!"_

"I'm rating this 3 stars," Verge whispered to Boone.

Phyllis continued on. "It would've been worse if I hadn't come back when I did from overall shopping and pulled the plug."

"_Stop staring! Nug will feast on your entrails!" _

The movie suddenly stopped, as the cavewoman's new victim was the movie projector. Before she could kill it though, Phyllis used her tech to bring her off and back with the others. Karen had retreated back into whence she came from.

"So just zap these guys back to their worlds," Penn said. "Easy-peasy."

"No easy," Phyllis insisted. "Definitely not peasy."

"Why? What's so wrong about destroying _our _way into worlds?" Verge questioned.

"Because _good _is what keeps worlds together. Without good, there is chaos. And because of this…Multiverse is _severely _out of balance, which has caused vortex to form in every world you have ever visited. There is one…in our world…right here."

She pointed downwards, and they saw an eerie swirling black hole into the cheap carpet near the zap platform. Verge, being the closest one to it, instantly leaped into the air, clearly terrified at what she was seeing. Though as she backed up high, everyone gathered around it. Phyllis looked up at the fairy, as if saying she was right for doing so. "They start out small…but they grow until they are big enough to suck everything and everyone from all the worlds into…"

She held up a flashlight to her face for dramatic effect. "…The Nothingness."

Despite not knowing what that was, everyone gasped, pretending that they did. Boone began eating the popcorn the Captain was eating in utter horror.

"An eternal, cold, lifeless darkness that exists outside of time and space…and it is coming…_for us all!"_

Boone let out a girly scream, dropping the popcorn bucket, and the little treats were instantly sucked up into the dark hole, forever lost, forever gone. As the usual effect that happened when she got into shock, Verge's wings just stopped working and she collapsed onto the ground.

"Luckily, I have vortex tops."

Phyllis pressed a button an a metal top, and it spun on its own. It circled around the vortex a few times, before sending sparks around it, closing the hole completely, until both it and the vortex disappeared. Penn sighed in relief.

"Wow," Verge laughed lightly, standing up and holding a top. "Would you imagine what would happen if we _didn't _have one of these bad boys?"

Incidentally, she just happened to accidentally press a button, and the top went haywire. Everyone ducked as the top went berserker, having found no vortex to close and no ground to spin on, and it just kept bouncing off the cinema walls. As it closed in on Phyllis, the technician expertly caught it with her gloved hand, turned it off, and placed it back in her bag as she glared at Verge.

"This is last time you do something stupid."

The fairy hid behind Sashi.

Phyllis handed the vortex bag over to Penn. "You must go to every world and close _all _the vortexes."

"It looks like a bowling bag," he commented.

"_You _look like bowling bag." Penn didn't reply.

'_Wow. She's in a bad mood.'_

The mechanic then brought out another device and handed it over to Sashi. "To zap, you will use Wrist-Activated Transprojector."

"WAT?" Verge asked.

"Wrist-Activated Transprojector."

"No, I mean…never mind."

The gadget clasped onto Sashi's arm like it was her life. Stepping back, Sashi smiled – as did Boone and Verge – as they were ready to go. Penn smiled, as he looked at their new travelers.

"OK, gang, I'm not gonna lie. This might feel a little strange."

Sashi pressed the WAT button, and everyone screamed as they were zapped.

* * *

_~Ocean World~_

So apparently, their first world was in Oceanaquariopolis. Though the heroes had turned back into their fishy forms, the others didn't seem to have changed at all. They were choking on water, when they realized they were in the sea, and the team struggled to find a source of air.

"Guys," Verge said, pointing up at the jellyfish flying by them. That seemed doable.

Each member provided a jellyfish for each new dimension person, as the air from inside kept them breathing. When Nug got a jellyfish, she seemed to like it. She sniffed it, sucked it, and was satisfied with the flavor. However, she was starting to suffocate again.

Boone and Verge looked at each other as the merfairy took another jellyfish and placed it over her head. Before Nug could go through the same process, Boone put in, "There's not going to be a third, cavelady."

They all began to swim downwards, back to the war trident case, and found two merpeople there by the throne. A vortex was accompanying them. "Sire," the thinner merfish welcomed. "We found this weird swirly thing while we were out scouting sights for our wedding."

"Congrats!" Penn exclaimed. "Oh, you are a lucky guy!"

"To which one of us do you speak?"

"Not this again," Verge murmured. Sashi sighed in agreement.

"Uhh…" Penn looked at the girls, who merely shrugged. "The man one?"

The buffer fish glared. "Which is?"

"Uhhh…one of you. I know one of you is, is the man…"

The thinner scoffed. "Unbelievable. Let's go, Tiffany."

As they swam off, Verge laughed and patted Penn's shoulder. He chuckled a bit as well. "Well, now that that awkward social situation is behind me, this should be easy-peasy!"

"Oh, don't get too cocky."

There was a shadow lingering above them, and everyone looked up to see an octopus person and a large red squid. Of course, we all know who these two are.

"Rippen!" Verge flew upwards, ready to summon water tornados.

"Stay back!" Captain Super Captain demanded. "Unless you want a wet knuckle sandwich!"

"Calm down heroes, calm down," Rippen tried persuading. "I don't want the end of all worlds either. This is all my fault, and I want to help! Larry and I here, we are at your service." The part-time minion gave a wave of his flipper.

"I don't trust you as far as I could throw you," Penn shot out. "Or, _blast you with my war trident!" _

As Boone handed his weapon, Penn sent a current at Rippen. He was knocked into a rock, which easily broke at impact, and fell over Rippen when he hit the ground. Verge fist-bumped him for that.

"Totally understand! Absolutely," Rippen called out weakly from underneath, as Larry helped him out. "You have no reason to trust me! Just know, wherever you go, we'll zap with you in case of emergency."

"Happy Friday!" Larry piped.

Penn only rolled his eyes and shot them again.

"You don't really trust them, do you?" Verge asked, when Penn swam back to the vortex.

He merely scoffed. "Of course not!" With a playful grin, he added, "What do you take me for?"

The merfairy shrugged and crossed her arms, smirking. "I don't know. A pretty fishy guy."

Penn chuckled and held up a top, growing serious. "All right, no time to waste. Let's zap!"

* * *

_~Clown World~_

This vortex was by the giant whoopee cushion. Before Penn could spin a top, the villains came in, with Rippen holding a box. "We brought snacks~" he sang.

Penn and Verge stared at each other blankly before looking up at Captain Super Captain. He flew up, and slammed himself against the giant prank toy. Its powerful wind blasted Rippen and Larry away once again, with him yelling, _"Totally understandable!" _ashe flew.

The box landed in the Sheriff's hands, and he muttered an apology and ate a donut. The Captain treated himself to the them by sucking them all up with his mouth.

Penn, Verge, and Sashi exchanged looks as they spun a top.

* * *

_~Temple World~_

The Golden Toilet Paper wasn't in its sacred from where they last put it, but the vortex certainly exchanged its place. As they neared it, Rippen had arrived again. "Everyone, be careful. Watch out for booby traps."

Penn raised an eyebrow. "Like this one?"

He just randomly stepped on a tile floor, and a wall of darts popped open, all hitting the villain in the chest.

As he was knocked out, he muttered cheerfully, "Totally…understandable…"

* * *

_~Gothic Mystery World~_

Now, they were back in Doctor Barzelby's lab. They were all gathered around the vortex, but the first thing Sashi did was warn them. "All right, watch it guys. Last time, Penn drank a potion that turned him into a Rippen monster whenever he got impatient."

"Isn't he cured by now?" Verge had to ask.

"Well, yeah, but it could happen once more."

"Don't worry, I won't make that mistake again," Penn said, as he chewed on a sandwich. The fairy's eyes widened, wondering where he got them, and he gestured to a tray. "Anyone else want a finger sandwich?"

Looking annoyed, Sashi pointed at the sign. It was labeled "Warning! Poison sandwiches"

Penn got irritated, of course. _"Why _would you put a sign _behind _poison sandwiches?! _WHY?!"_

And the same thing happened again. While he changed, Boone and Verge tried looking away and Sashi rolled her eyes. When his body changed, the Captain cried out, _"~Captain Gross-out Captain!~"_

Then Rippen in monster form replaced him. He took a top from the bag and closed it.

"Give us the tops, Rippen," Sashi ordered.

Surprisingly, he obeyed. "Like I said, I just want to help."

"Maybe so, but you're up to something," Verge said hotly. "We _know_ you are."

Rippen rolled his eyes. "All right. Keep telling yourself that."

Sashi glared. "Just laugh evil so we get Penn back."

"I will, but for the record, that's just my laugh. You're the one who's labeled it evil." He chuckled, and Penn immediately turned back.

Just like old times, he went through the process of unrealistic fast clothes changing.

"You're ruthless enemy seems like a pretty decent guy," the Captain admitted.

"Don't let him fool you," Penn warned. "He can never be trusted."

"Except for one second ago, when clearly he _could _be trusted."

"Boone, not helping," Verge sighed, rubbing her temples. "Guys, let's just focus. All that matters is that we get to finish this job."

Sashi pressed her WAT and they zapped.

* * *

_~Genie World~_

They were all immediately found on a flying carpet. From a distance, Verge could see the vortex off in the middle of the desert, and directed the carpet towards it. The Captain saw Sashi and began to sniffle. "Fun fact: _~I'm super allergic…to monkeys!~"_

When he sneezed, everyone screamed as they were thrown off.

The Captain managed to save the Sheriff and Nug, while Verge dusted her friends. However, just as she tried to dust Sashi, the dust was already too far out of her reach. "Sash!" Verge cried.

"Boone!" Penn shouted. "Magic time!"

"On it!" The genie tried catching her with a giant baseball mitt, but the monkey passed right through the large hole. "She's still falling!"

"Sashi!"

Just when Verge thought she would hit the hot sand, someone grabbed her tail. The little animal was safe, and everyone sighed in relief.

"Yeah! All right! Way to go…Rippen?"

"_What?" _Verge demanded, flying forward. It was Rippen already. As Sashi attacked him for grabbing her by the tail, the two exchanged wary looks.

"Divergent? Any thoughts?"

"I cannot believe this."

She quickly snapped out of it when they landed back on the ground. Sashi had jumped off Rippen's carpet and the fairy just quickly took and embraced her. _"I'm so sorry!"_

"Verge, it wasn't your fault!" Sashi wheezed, getting crushed by the golden-winged girl. "Also, please get off!"

She managed to zap them quickly.

* * *

_~Spy Caveman World~_

Verge let go when they saw the vortex. It was by the CLIA headquarters, and it seemed to be stronger than the rest they've seen. Sheriff Scaly Briggs noticed this. "The vortexes are gettin' bigger, you better giddyup!"

Before Penn could reply, something knocked into him, causing him to let go of the vortex tops bag. Instead of trying to catch it, he screamed. Verge tried flying after it, but someone beat her to it. Just as the bag rolled off the cliff, Rippen in his grass toupee caught it just in time.

"Oh, dust," Verge exhaled.

"Larry, I told you to set the parking brake on dead wooly rhino!" he complained.

"I did!" the minion exclaimed. "But it broke off."

Rippen only sighed, and they all set foot down the rocky hill they were on. Verge flew back over to Penn and Sashi, where they stayed behind. "Trusting Rippen feels really weird," the redhead said.

"Speak for yourself," the fairy huffed, crossing her arms. "I still find difficulty in believing anything he says."

Sashi sighed. "I know what you mean. But he did kinda save my life."

"But he tried to end _mine! _Hello?! Does anyone not remember my losing light experience!"

"Verge, he must be over it by now!" Penn said, frowning. "Besides, he also closed a vortex himself, and helped us with booby traps…and brought us really yummy donuts."

"That we didn't get to eat! Zero, come on!"

"Look, we know what you mean. But let's just let him off easy just this once."

They began to follow Rippen, Larry, and Nug downwards. "Should I get the vortex tops back from him?"

"Nah, he's good."

"For now," Verge muttered. Penn glanced over at her and frowned.

"Verge."

"All I'm saying is…whatever crazy trap you fall into, I'm not diving in after you."

"All right, fair enough."

The vortex was getting bigger and bigger. Everyone gathered by its side, and the redhead looked over the cavewoman. "Well, Nug, since this is your world, do you wanna do the honors? Close the vortex and help save the Multiverse?"

For some reason, she had a very aggravated expression on her face as she merely glared at the boy. "Nug hateMultiverse, _and hate you!"_

Before anyone could stop her, she did one long jump, and in she went into the vortex.

"_Nug!" _everyone yelled.

Penn's hero instincts acted up, and he took a vine and wrapped it around his waist. He tossed the vine to Verge and the others. "Guys, grab the end!"

As he threw himself in after Nug, Penn saw that he returned to his normal form, once in the Nothingness. It was weird, but he had no time to contemplate on that. Upon entering the dark realm…well, that was all it really was. Phyllis wasn't kidding when she said cold and lifeless. Literally nothing was there, except for the fact Penn was trying to catch the cavewoman. The only light that supported him was the light from the dimension. As he finally got a grasp of her wrist, everyone above were almost carried along with them, and they struggled to keep themselves above. "Pull!" Verge yelled, as they tugged. "Keep them alive! Bring them up! Come on!"

Verge poked her head in the vortex, and one half of her body returned to its normal form again. "Are you all right?" she called out.

"We're fine!" Penn assured, turning back to Nug. "What are you doing?!"

"Are you insane, woman?!"

Nug looked up at them with innocent eyes. "Ugly man who wears grass on head tell Nug she can go anywhere she want to vortex!"

"Gazundheit?"

Penn knew she was talking about Rippen as he looked up suspiciously. "Why would he do that?"

"'Cause I'm a villain, and I do evil things." Verge didn't even notice Rippen had arrived her side. Now, the fairy was trying to pull them up faster.

"You!" she choked out. "I _knew _you were—"

"Yes, yes, you guessed right, you should never have trusted me." The man only smirked at that. "Now, I'm off to close the rest of the vortexes while _you _spend eternity in the Nothingness!"

With a single swish of his knife, he cut the vine.

Everyone collapsed onto the ground. _"Penn!" _they all yelled.

"_Zero!" _No one screamed louder than Verge. Without even thinking, she threw herself into the Nothingness, reaching out to take his rope as he screamed and fell. "Come on!"

She was just inches away before she heard Rippen laugh evilly, toss a top, and close the vortex hole.

"_Penn! Verge!"_

Now, they were shrouded in darkness.

Penn didn't land on anything, really. There was no ground in the Nothingness. As he fell, he just stopped abruptly, and was surprised to find he was safe. He untied himself from the vine, let Nug enjoy anti-gravity, and the first thing he did was shout out.

"_Verge?! Verge!"_

"Zero! I'm over here!"

"Where?! Shine a light!"

"I can't! The Nothingness…I think it drains fairy powers!"

"Just try! Come on!"

The fairy did. With whatever light power she had left, she tried sparking it. From a close distance, Penn saw a flicker of light, his eyes widened, and he quickly floated over to it. "Verge! Are you here!"

"_Ow! _That was my eye!"

"Sorry! Where's your arm?"

"Here."

"Ow! My mouth!"

"Wait."

Soon, Verge found his right shoulder, then carefully trailed it down to his arm. Penn found her hair, and trailed it to her cheek. With the little sparks of light Verge they made, they adjusted to their position, held their hands to keep them from drifting apart, and Penn had to smile.

"Good. You're all right."

"Same to you. This is what you get for being a hero!"

"Hahaha…you don't mean that, right."

"Yeah…now you see what I meant about Rippen?"

"Yeah, yeah…of all the times I chose to trust him…"

"Can't believe we still did."

Then, Penn realized something. "I thought you said you wouldn't fall into whatever trap I get myself into or something."

In another spark of light, Penn could see her blush slightly. "I don't tell you everything…"

"Aww, Vergie _does_ care."

"Are you blind? Of course I do." The boy heard her sigh. "No matter what happens, I would fall through any vortex just to keep you safe."

Her words surprised him, but really not so much. Yeah, they'd been through a lot together, and Penn knew they were there for each other. But just hearing her say she'll do it made it feel special… "Thanks, Verge. I don't know what I'd do without you."

The fairy only smirked, even if she knew he couldn't see it. "You'd still be a successful part-time hero. And I'd be whatever I used to be doing in my old life as a normal fairy."

"Maybe…"

There was silence for a while.

"So, what now?"

"Well, we're stuck, of course. In the darkness. Just you, me, and Nug. Do you think food falls in here?"

"No."

"Well, we'd be dead in give or take three days—"

"Zero, stop talking like that."

"But we can't get out of this this time! We can't do anything…"

"Maybe not, but I bet the others are looking for a way to find us. I know it."

"Well…since you _knew_ about Rippen, I'll trust you that you keep your word…the only question is how."

"…That I don't know."

More silence.

"I guess I'm not the best comforter right now."

"No, don't say that. I'm just glad you're here, though…t-to keep my company, of course!" It was hard to tell how he looked in the darkness.

"Of course…but, ah, I'm guessing you need someone else to be your guide right now."

Before Penn could reply, his MUHU started buzzing. "Thank the queen," the fairy mumbled.

Penn frowned as he answered the call. The screen popped open, and his parents were there, in a boat, and they stared at where the two kids were.

"Penn? Verge?" Vonnie said. "Why are you two floating in darkness?"

Brock crossed his arms. "Did Uncle Chuck forget to pay the power bill?"

"Or the gravity bill?"

"No, nothing that bad…" Penn and Verge exchanged looks. "We're just trapped in the Nothingness—"

Both adults began to scream. Upon seeing the kids' wide eyes, they quickly tried covering it up. "The Nothingness?" Vonnie asked, her voice trying to appear cheerful. "That's…not…great…but, on the bright side, uh…"

"There _is_ no bright side, Mom." Penn looked down. "Lately, nothing's been going my way. Whether it's getting trapped in the Nothingness, or not being able to save you guys from the Most Dangerous World Imaginable…"

Verge felt rather shocked. Was that what was on his mind for that past minutes? The fairy placed a hand on his shoulder, but he only continued to stare down at the darkness.

Vonnie looked at Verge and they could both tell they were thinking the same thing. "Honey, you can't be serious. You've won like, fifty missions in a row."

Brock smiled. "And that hair? Oh, talk about lucky that's just something you were born with. You can't learn hair, mm-mm."

The redhead still wasn't convinced.

"You know they're right, right?" Verge put in. "I mean, look right now, we were just hoping for some motivation, and…" She gestured to the adults. They beamed, understanding.

Penn had to smile a little. "Yeah…I suppose…"

"Don't lose hope," Vonnie said. "Especially when things look darkest."

Brock nodded. "Hope is what gives you the power to do great things. If you stop hoping, you've got no chance!"

Now, Penn was grinning as he touched the top of his head. "I guess my hair _is_ pretty rad. Maybe you guys are right."

"Of course they are," Verge put in.

"Maybe things are_n_'t hopeless."

Suddenly, something popped up onto the MUHU screen. "Charge Battery" it said, as the device died down, taking the light with it.

"…Except for the fact that we're surrounded in empty soul-crushing darkness. That there's no escape from."

"Well, I did tell you to charge the MUHU this morning."

Penn let out a long sigh.

There was a long silence.

"So…?"

"So what?"

"You're the hero. What now?"

"Well, you're the fairy guide. Guide me."

"That's not fair."

"How is it not fair?"

"'Cause I don't know the game plan!"

"But that's Sashi's job."

"Oh, sure, blame Sashi."

"She's not here!"

"I'm aware."

Penn sighed, only it showed annoyance this time.

'_At least I'm getting to him.'_

"…_~I wanna be…the very best…~"_

"What."

"_~Like no one ever was~"_

"Verge, what are you—"

"_~To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause!~"_

"Please no."

"_~Yeaaah you're my best friend, in a world we must defend!~"_

"Are you really—"

"_~You teach me and I teach you!~"_

"All right, that's enough."

"_~GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL, GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL, POKEMON!~"_

"_HYAH!"_

In the darkness, Verge felt a force slam into her. There was no ground, so she had nothing to land on, so the two ended up rolling in air. As they spun, they were yelling, but ended up laughing when they finally managed to stop. As the sound of their harmonious voices sounded out through the blackness, the two friends hugged tightly, not wanting to let go of the other. It was a friendly hug, but they were both seeping with warmth, as they held on longer.

When their laughter died down, Penn lowered Verge and kissed her forehead, as he grinned in the dark. In fairness, she was surprised. It had been a while since the redhead ever did that again…she figured they were just getting too old for that. Before feeling him do that once more…like they were real siblings…maybe even more.

Before Verge could react, Penn pulled away and looked upwards. "OK, gotta try to hope. Hope, hope, hope. Being hopeful in total dark Nothingness…_now! _…Ah, I feel better already—No, I don't. I'm really terrible at this."

"Yeah, you kind of are." Verge could feel his glare. "What?"

Before the boy could reply, they noticed a light. Of course, knowing the Nothingness should have…well, _nothing _in it, that drew their attention. The two gasped inwardly.

"What is this?" Penn said breathlessly.

"Is it dangerous?"

"Probably not…" Upon closer inspection…it looked like a glass shard, or a blue diamond. The two exchanged awed looks. "Could it be the hopeful sign we've been waiting for?"

"Maybe…"

The shard just kept getting closer and closer. Still gawking in wonder, Penn reached out and tried to touch it.

"_Ahh, ow! _No, it's the painful sign I _wasn't _waiting for! Ah…"

"Still, you gotta take it."

"Why?"

"Could be useful. I mean, when you see something floating in the _Nothingness, _you gotta believe it belongs in the _Somethingness."_

"I don't follow. But, sure, I'll take it. By the way, have you see Nug?"

"_Nug here!"_

"Great, just great."

Suddenly, a _real _light source shone down on them. "Zero, look…" Verge tugged at his sleeve, as it was her turn to stare in awe. When they gazed upwards, three figures were careful lowering themselves down like angels. Only, they weren't.

"Sashi! Boone! Scaly!" they cried together.

"You found a way to get us out!" Verge cheered.

"But, how?" Penn beamed.

Boone was grinning really proudly. "Basically, I saved the day! Hey, have you heard Boone's new ringtone?" The boy pressed a button on his phone. _'Boone, you're a genius!'_

"Was that Sash?" Verge smirked.

"We don't tell you everything," the brunette grumbled.

"Enough!" Scaly complained. "Let's get you outta here Verge, Sven. We gotta close those new vortexamajigs!"

Scaly threw his lasso and it tied Penn, Verge, and Nugg together. As they were being pulled up, all Penn could say was, "My name is Penn. It's like the writing utensil, how can you not remember that?!"

"Bright side, Zero, bright side!" Verge laughed. She was right, though.

They were free.

"_Pull, pull, pull! Come on, you giant dummies!"_

Upon coming to the Spy Caveman World again, Verge noticed two newcomers had arrived: Blaze from Dragon World and Shirley B. Awesome from that Live Toy World. As the dragon and Captain Super Captain helped in pulling them out, they also just let them collapse onto the floor. Nugg recovered immediately and went for the vortex once more. "Nug want to try again!"

"Shirley wants to kick your face!" The action figure instantly kicked Nugg in the forehead, and she collapsed. "You're stupid."

"We're aware, Shirley," Verge said, finally flying upwards. "Thanks for saving us, everyone."

"Friends help each other," Sashi admitted, smiling.

Taking the vortex top bag, Penn threw a top, and the vortex instantly closed.

"So long, Nugg," Penn said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You've been really difficult to deal with."

"At least we can finally leave," Verge joked. Penn grinned and they fist-bumped.

"All right, guys, time to do the same stuff again."

* * *

**(A/N: This part made me cry so much when I first watched the ep ;-; However, I'm not willing to say what they did in every dimension, for we all know it's just the same banana. So, just watch the episode~! Since I loved the song, I'll sing the parts I know, regardless of the fact you can't hear me**

_**SAAAAAVE THE WOOOORLDS  
**__**WE'RE GONNA SAAAAAAVE THE WOOOOORLDS  
**__**NANANANANANANANANANANANANANA**_

**I dunno lol**

**On with the ep!))**

* * *

_~Dragon World~_

When they arrived at the take-off platform at the dimension, Penn threw the top and closed the vortex.

"Only a few more to go, can you believe it?" Verge beamed.

"Yep! Now to Shirley's—"

"Where's Blaze?" the Captain wondered.

They all looked up to see the dragon and Sashi dancing. Just like last time, the girl had a lovestruck expression as the reptile leaned in. "Blaze feels like you and Blaze made a real connection."

"Hey, Blaze!" Penn called, flying up immediately. "Thanks for the help! Gotta go, bye!"

"_No!" _Sashi shrieked.

* * *

_~Toy World~_

Sheriff Scaly Briggs picked up the five toys as he sling-shot them into the treehouse. Shirley was holding the top, and she yelled out "Roundhouse kick!" as they closed that vortex.

Sashi was ready to zap, but the general also yelled, "See you guys later! You're not stupid!"

Everyone smiled awkwardly.

"Thank you," Verge coughed. "Like we said…no need to yell."

* * *

_~Superhero World~  
_

The Captain immediately threw a top into the vortex, and that large one closed up for good. Penn grinned as he gazed up at the superhero.

"Well, Captain, I guess this is it."

"I'm proud you consider Captain Super Captain a friend."

Verge and Penn smirked as they exchanged looks. "Uh, you said your name, normally."

"_~I was just checking to see if you were paying attention!~"_

"Yeah, we were." Verge flew up slightly as the hero began to pose.

"Yep!" Penn exclaimed. "Let's get _you _home, Scaly. One last vortex, and we'll call it a day. It should finally be easy-peasy."

* * *

_~Dinosaur Cowboy World~_

"_Why do I ever say things?!"_

The first thing they were encountered with when they arrived was a giant storm. They were screaming, as they felt they were all being sucked into the really large vortex before them. But before they could get in, a rope grabbed onto them, stopping their flight.

"_I got you, Pa!" _Everyone looked up to see a familiar cowgirl on a Pteranodog.

"Thanks, Amber!" the Sheriff called out.

"Just _what _is happening?!" Verge yelled. "We couldn't have been away this long!"

"I don't know!" Penn yelled back.

"Penn, you're OK!" They then turned to the side to see Larry stuck on a cactus. "Great to see ya, buddy!"

"Thanks, Larry! Hey, quick quesh: why is this vortex so big?"

"We were about to close it—"

"—But another vortex opened up, and they combined! Doubling in size!" this of course was answered by Rippen, who was holding on to a much smaller plant. Just looking at him made Verge glare at him. "My top had no effect!"

Penn looked back at the giant swirling hole. "One top wasn't enough for two vortexes, but maybe two are. Rippen! How many do you have?"

"I have one!"

"OK! Now the only way we're gonna close this thing is if we launch ourselves at the vortex and spin both tops at the last second!"

"_Look out!" _Scaly shouted, pointing. "It's the rock that looks like a lady dinosaur!"

"Not that rock!" Verge cried. "I loved that rock!"

Everyone began screaming again.

Luckily, Amber noticed this and quickly had her Pteranodog change direction.

As the rock was sucked into the vortex, Rippen began crying out. "We're all doomed! I won't do it! I'm staying here with my cactus! I've named it Jennifer!"

"You're a hopeless coward!" Penn and Verge yelled.

"I'm fine with that!"

"OK, Sashi, you think you can launch yourself over to Rippen and get that top?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm not a rookie!" she replied matter-of-factly.

"All right! Don't bite my head off! I'm only asking you a question!"

"Be careful, though!" Verge shouted.

Using her dress as some sort of parachute, Sashi easily flew herself over and hung onto Rippen's moustache. As he yelled complaints, the brunette took the top. "Got it!"

Penn took the last top from the bag, and left the rope.

"Zero, what are you doing?!" Verge shouted.

"How else am I going to get the top?!"

Sashi threw it, and the redhead reached out for it.

However, the top was already starting to be sucked into the vortex.

"_No!"_

Verge instantly knew what was coming. Penn stepped onto Scaly and Boone, and dove in for it.

They couldn't see him struggle. They couldn't see him try. In the bitter end, Penn was already halfway in when he spun both tops.

Everything exploded.

"_Penn!"_

"_Penn!"_

"_PZ!"_

"_ZERO!"  
_

As the vortex died down, Verge instantly flew forward. There was smoke, and she tried blowing it away with her wind. As she searched frantically, she could only pray to whatever being she used to worship.

_Please, please, please…!_

The smoke finally parted…and Penn was seen standing.

"_PENN!" _

Not even caring about the impact, the fairy dove downwards. She tackled the redhead onto the ground and enveloped him in a huge hug. He laughed at her antics, already pretty used to it, and she had to get off and help him up as the rest of his friends cheered. Boone and Sashi quickly came up, and the four all exchanged a group hug.

They did it.

They saved the worlds.

Sheriff Scaly Briggs then ran up to them. "What a dumb plan! How did you know that would work?" he demanded.

"I didn't," Penn admitted. "But I had hope. Then a lot of fear that I would die. Then more hope. Then a pretty even mix of fear and hope, then hope again when I saw it was working."

"Basically, you're an idiot." Verge punched his shoulder playfully. "But I'm proud of you, and I'm glad you're all right. We all are." Penn beamed.

"We did it!" Rippen's voice cheered. Everyone pretty much glared at him when he came over. "Nice job, everyone! High-fives all around!" He got nothing. "All fist-bumps, if you want?" More deadly looks. "Or just a regular handshake?"

Verge laughed terribly lightly and Rippen almost backed up. "Rip…remember when we first met, and I wanted to punch the living daylights out of you?"

"…Yeah?"

"I just might _do it now." _When she was ready to pounce, the villain squeaked and cowered, but both Penn and Sashi held her down.

"You aren't still mad at me for trapping you in the Nothingness forever, are you?"

"_Yeah," _Penn snapped. "We are. Just a little bit!"

"Oh. All right. Totally understandable."

Larry then came up happily. "Who wants some celebratory jerky?!"

Rippen's eyes widened as he slammed his hand down. "No, Larry, no!"

Too late. The red T-Rex noticed, and he gulped the two villains whole. The heroes chuckled as it walked off.

Verge then turned to Penn and looked down at the hands that once held vortex tops. Penn noticed and raised an eyebrow. "…Zero…promise me you won't do a stunt like that again…"

"Verge?"

The fairy smiled weakly and stared at the ground. "I lost my family twice already…I can't lose you too."

When he stared into her blue orbs, he could tell she was taking this seriously.

"…I promise, Verge." Boone and Sashi smiled at this.

The fairy held her arms out and the four shared another embrace.

The Sheriff was shaking his head as they pulled away. "I don't understand anything I saw, heard, or did today…or basic math…but I do know one thing." He grinned and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Your parents must be awful proud of you."

Penn beamed, glanced over at nodding Verge, and his eyes shone up at the elder man. "Thanks, Scaly."

He then turned to Boone, Sashi, and Verge. "You're fine too, I guess."

This earned three sets of glares.

"Well!" Penn interrupted. "We should be moseying along."

"I'll sleep well knowing you four are looking out for the rest of us."

"Well, thanks, Scaly. That really means a lo—"

They were interrupted by snoring.

"Holy hawks, will he be all right," Verge murmured.

Penn shrugged, saying in a low voice, "Guys, let's not wake him."

As they walked side by side, they were suddenly zapped back home.

* * *

"Congratulation on best mission in history of mission," Phyllis called out.

"How many worlds do you suppose we went through today?" Verge wondered aloud.

"Well, we went to practically most of them," Boone said. "So I'd say a lot—"

Phyllis was then found behind them as she began to push the four out. "Enough living in past, get out."

"OK," Penn said awkwardly. "I…guess we'll just see you Monday?"

They all turned and walked out, but suddenly, Phyllis tackled Penn to the ground. Verge, Boone, and Sashi whirled around to see her holding a blue crystal.

"Where did you get this?"

"Oh, that? Oh, it was in the Nothingness…"

"We found it there," Verge said, about to help the boy up.

"Is it import—"

Before they could do anything about it, Phyllis took both of them by the wrists and pulled them into the "Employees Only" room.

"_Hey!"_

"Ow!"

"Phyllis—"

"What's going on—"

Verge flew before Phyllis let go, but Penn fell face-first. The fairy didn't even look down anymore as she watched the technician use the crystal, and started typing. Boone and Sashi entered as well, just as confused. "This is weird…" Penn muttered, standing up.

The crystal seemed to open up a whole new map of…triangles? They seemed identical to the one on the MUHU and the MUT, and some of them were glowing brighter than the rest. "Whoa…" was all Verge could say as she lowered herself to the ground.

"What is this, like a, weird video game?" the redhead questioned.

"I call next!" Boone piped.

"Is no game," Phyllis said solemnly. "Is key."

"Key to what?"

When the mechanic turned, she had never smiled so genuinely. "To Fairy World…and finding your parents."

When they all looked at Penn and Verge, they could not have looked any happier.

_Boone, you're a genius!_

The Wiseman chuckled as he held up his phone. "Sorry, I have to take this."

Sashi growled, looking ready to punch him.

But for once, the two didn't care.

"Penn…" Verge looked over at her best friend, and she was smiling deeply widely.

The boy smiled back. "Yeah…"

The two continued to stare up at the map.

Hope was on their side for real now.

* * *

**SEASON 1 IS OVERRRRRR**

**WHY DO I FEEL SO SAD**

**WAIT OF COURSE I KNOW WHY SEASON 2 IS IN 2016**

**I WANT A SEASON 2 SAM LEVINE PLS MAKE ONE FAST**

**All right better calm down**

**Hey guys, thanks so much for sticking around until the very end for this story! I know some of you don't like it, some of you may love it, but I appreciate all you readers! Especially those special reviewers that make sure to review every time I upload a new chapter:**

**-Charr2003  
****-TheyAllStartOutOrdinary  
****-Mjzero06  
****-Layla347  
****-IamRockutoo**

**I'll say it once, I'll say it again: you guys are awesome! I finally reached one of my goals, which is to get more than a hundred reviews on a fanfic. So thanks for makin' this goal happen X3 Thanks also to the other reviewers! Even if I haven't heard from most, hope you liked the story!**

**Btws. I may or may not post my drawings in a long while, though. I've never found the time to draw either, regardless of how much spare time I may or may not have on the weekends xP**

**Anyways! I loved writing this chapter. I'll especially enjoy writing the next one! Some of you guys will have to wait for another week. But I hope that'll be all right. On the bright side, I don't get depressed about how many favorites I receive anymore ^^**

**coughcoughIgetdepressedwhenIgetlowgradescoughcough**

**I'll say it once, I'd gladly say it a million times: when season 2 comes out, so will a new story! So stay tuned, everyone! Add me to your favorite authors and following authors list if you wanna be prepared ;) I've got tons of special episode requests, a ton of ideas for Verge, and new dimensions to discover.**

**If we're lucky…there'll even be a season 3 and a third story.**

**But let's focus on the near future!**

**See ya'll in a week! It'll be the last time I'll ever write a PZ chapter in a while X3**


	46. Lost and Returned

**Special Episode: Lost and Returned**

* * *

**SO I'VE BEEN WATCHING A LOT OF ENDS LATELY**

**First, I saw Star vs. the Forces of Evil's season 1 finale and it was awesome, though it didn't feel like a finale. Then, Penn Zero's season 1 finale. THEN, Gravity Falls' season 2 episode 17, where the last words were "We're too late. It's the end of the world." Although it's not the end of GF, IT CERTAINLY FEELS LIKE IT. Then just two days ago, I watched the final episode of Jessie and I cried so much. **

**That's too much information in one month for me.**

**Bet you're wondering why I'm talking about endings.**

**Cuz now, this is chapter is the end of this one.**

**Enjoy, my ridaas!**

* * *

_I want to know._

_I need to know._

_I only wish I knew how to know._

Verge stood at the hallways of Middleburg High School. She literally did nothing but stand, blink, breathe, and stay there. She wasn't even waiting for her friends. She wasn't even sure why she was there at the moment.

Something was occupying her mind.

The fairy always imagined what it would be like if she were to walk these very halls alone; without her vest, without concealing the fact she was different. Verge only sighed as she looked to her side and looked through the art room window. Penn, Boone, and Sashi seemed to have gotten in trouble with Rippen again. She looked away after a few seconds, deeming what she'd seen explanation enough.

The brunette held up a single ticket to the Odyssey. It was the very same one Penn's parents gave him on the first day they found out their real lives. Verge kept it all this time.

Now, she clenched it in her fist.

'_I can't turn back now,' _she thought.

Tonight would be the night.

She'd been planning it for months. With that key they had now…

Well, that plan could come true.

The bell finally rang. Verge's head shot up. School has no ended. Before she knew it, students were piling out of their classrooms, proceeding in causing noise, and began to head home.

Penn, Boone, and Sashi all exited the art room at the same time, and they grinned when they saw their friend. "Hey, Vergie," Penn piped, shouldering his bag. "Ready for work?"

The brunette turned to him, eyes slightly widened. Penn. The friend she could always rely on. What would he think when she would do this? His innocent cyan eyes couldn't really answer that question.

Penn had been so happy when they found the key. Verge knew, for she felt the same way. When Phyllis mentioned that other bit, she was even more excited than he was. They knew exactly what their future would be holding for them now. And for Verge, that future would come the day afterwards.

Meaning, today, her dream would finally happen.

The fairy then mustered a smile. "Of course! Let's go."

* * *

For now, we're gonna fast-forward. Let's say, many hours from now.

The team had their mission, they did a good job as usual, and Verge managed to stay focused the entire time. Penn was snoring in his bed now, whilst the fairy was wide-awake. At exactly midnight, she threw herself out of her matchbox bed and grew bigger.

"Cotton Candy is slumbering. Firefly is ready for emission."

Verge was still wearing her usual clothes from earlier that day, only now she carried a shoulder bag made of pure green leaves. She grinned, seeing her roommate still fast asleep. She opened the window and prepared to grow smaller to fly out. She paused for a moment, turning slowly back to the room.

The fairy remembered when Phyllis said she found Penn's parents. He tried to sneak out with the whole team, just so he and Verge could go save them. It didn't end well.

Now…Verge was sneaking out _alone_. And she wasn't planning on going to the Most Dangerous World Imaginable just yet.

Without another thought, she flew out.

At night, she was nothing more than a light source in the darkness. Her wings glowed softly as all people could see of her now was a firefly. Where was the light when she was in the Nothingness? She didn't care right now, at least they got out. Verge's top priority was to head into the Odyssey safely.

Once she arrived, she grew bigger and pulled at the doors. As usual, they were shut tight. Last time, she didn't have a key, but just last week, she'd kept complaining and whining to the technician about it. Phyllis gave up and provided her a third one. She pulled it out of her bag and used it to unlock the door.

She got in easily. Only problem, she forgot to lock it again.

The fairy instantly entered the Employees Only room. She knew Phyllis slept in a different area, but she was still careful to enter it cautiously. The door creaked open slightly, and the MUT tech flashed and buzzed before her. The girl's blue eyes lit up as well as she grew bigger.

That blue crystal was right in its place from where Phyllis last left it. The old mechanic must've been keeping it there for hours. The confusing map with the triangular dimension-points glowed temptingly. The fairy walked forward and began typing away.

Her eyes were glued right into the screen. She could not think of anything else.

"This is it…" she mumbled. "This is it…!"

Yes, this was it. She typed "Fairy World" and a single triangle flashed onto the screen. She took Phyllis' portable zap button and burst into the cinema.

The MUT was waiting for her. It had started working on its own, and was ready for "a new mission". She practically leaped onto the zap platform, already flying above it. She held up the button and eagerly pressed it. The blue light from the projector hit her, and lifted her higher. Her smile could've lit up the whole room.

This was it.

"_Divergent!"_

Startled, her finger left the button and the fairy collapsed back onto the platform without even realizing it. She let out a yelp of pain, as she rubbed the back of her head. When she recovered slightly, her eyes burned flames. "What the dust?!"

They began to soften when she looked up and saw who was running up to her. "Are you all right?" Penn exclaimed. Seeing as she was practically frozen, Boone and Sashi helped her up.

The fairy shook her head furiously. "Y-Yeah, but what are you guys doing here?"

It's amazing how months of planning can be ruined by three children.

"The important question is what are _you _doing here," Sashi retorted.

"We're done with our mission, Vergie," Boone reminded. "Don't need another one."

"I know, I know," the fairy said quickly. "I just…wanted…to check…if…uh…"

The way she was struggling with words and the way her friends looked at her stoically was proof she was horrible at making excuses.

"Verge, you were going somewhere," Penn said calmly. "Where?"

"Oh…just…you know…" She looked at them with pain on her face, but they clearly knew nothing. "…Fairy World."

"What?" Penn frowned instantly. Boone and Sashi's eyes widened slightly. "Y-You…were going? Without us?"

Verge had her head down sheepishly, but after hearing that last part, she lifted her head in surprise. "Wait, us?"

"Uh, yeah!" Penn crossed his arms as he gestured to the three. "We're a team! I'm kinda offended you didn't think about this."

"Hold on…you guys want to go?"

"Why not?" Sashi smirked as she held up her WAT. Surprisingly, she still kept that thing. "I want to see how many of those fairies share that same stubborn attitude you have." The golden-winged fairy smirked back.

"Yeah!" Boone agreed. "And fairies are like, one of the most wisest creatures in the universe. Imagine what wisdom I may or may not hear or listen from them!"

"And Divergent," Penn placed a hand on her shoulder and stared dead into Verge's eyes. "We're family. Remember? We're supposed to be there for each other. We've talked about this day for eight years. I'm here for you, whether you want me to or not. Don't even think about sneaking off without me."

His words almost brought tears to the fairy's eyes.

"Guys…I don't know what to say."

"How about considering Phyllis isn't here…_good luck."_

Everyone climbed onto the zap platform. Verge flew above them, still holding the portable button. She looked up at the projector and held her head up confidently. Then she looked downwards at her friends, who each raised a thumb.

"All right, team…whatever we might see or learn about…I just wanted you guys to know I'm never leaving you all. This is the moment I've been waiting for. I have nothing else to think or say. But I know that whatever happens…we'll stick together." The three humans smiled up at their fairy guide. "So…let's zap. Good luck to us."

She pressed the button, and they were hit with the usual blue light. It began to drive them into the MUT, and Verge let go of the button. At the exact same moment, everyone was zapped.

* * *

Of course, originally coming from Fairy World, Divergent stayed the same form she already had.

But of course, Penn, Boone, and Sashi were different. Boone was sporting a large leaf shirt and matching shorts. Sashi had a short purple dress with matching flats on, and her hair was worn down. Blue-rimmed Specs rested atop her nose as she straightened them. The brunette seemed especially happy that she was in her Fast-Flying fairy form properly now and her clothes clearly expressed the fact. Penn had on a yellow-colored sleeveless leaf shirt with a V-neck and high collar. He was wearing matching yellow leggings and pointy brown shoes and he kicked the leaf they were standing on as he checked them out.

"Huh," he grinned, his hands on his hips. "I guess fairies were originally trendy from the start."

"You guys look adorable!" Verge gushed, bringing them in for a group hug. Unlike Verge, all three of them had silky transparent wings; like a normal fairy. Which still brought them to the question of why Verge was different. But they let the confusion pass. "I'm so excited we're here! Everything is just as I imagined it to be!"

Boone frowned as they all took in their surroundings. "Uh…you mean you imagined Fairy World to be a forest?"

Fairy World _did _seem like a giant forest. All around, all they could see were autumn leaves on large trees of every shape, size, and species. Animals that had passed by seemed to be staring down at them from branches above, and it was as if their eyes seemed to widen. Verge didn't mind as she spread her arms out, mid-flight. "Well, maybe some part of the dimension I imagined would be real! I'm anxious to see the rest of it."

"Me too, Verge," Penn said, using his wings for the first time and flying over to place a hand on her shoulder. "We'll give ourselves a grand tour! Maybe someone might recognize you on the way."

Verge lit up again. "That would be nice! Come on, guys! I'll race you to the first city we find!"

"That isn't fair," Boone complained, as he and Sashi joined them. "We haven't gotten used to our wings yet!"

Sashi snorted, crossing her arms proudly. "Speak for yourself, boys."

Laughing, Verge flew forward. "Yeah! Let's go!" With a chortle, she took off, with her friends following in pursuit.

On the way, Sashi looked over at Penn, who was still smiling throughout the fly. The brunette flew closer and whispered, "Hey. PZ. I didn't think you would take all this so well."

"Well, Sash…" The redhead looked over at the golden light that was Verge, flying before him. She held a grin that would put Penn's usual one to shame. Her eyes still apprehended some flames, but they were growing with excitement and exhilaration. And now, Penn's grin had softened to a small, almost fake one. "I'm really not."

They flew out of the forest shortly after and found themselves arriving at what looked like a little village. Verge gasped and paused at what she saw, as her friends quickly joined her. Fairies in orange clothing were flying around, talking to animals and training them. Wherever they were, the golden-winged fairy seemed to notice this as an Animal fairy area. By the way they handled squirrels and bluebirds the way Verge did, it was a possibility.

"Wow," she breathed, flying downward slowly. "This is amazing!"

"Well, it's just the animal fairy place," Boone noted. "There's still much to see."

"But I can't believe _this _is a part of all this…" They landed onto the ground and Verge grinned again. She didn't care when the fairies didn't even notice her. One rabbit did and hopped forward. The brunette held her hand out, and it sniffed her palm. Seeing she was friendly, it then began licking her face. She chuckled, and let it move on.

"Wow, Verge," Penn flew by her side. "You really are thrilled about it all. Well, you just gotta remember that there's plenty more where this'll come fro—"

"Hey! You!" The team whirled around to see a female fairy with dirty blonde hair in a ponytail, glaring at them. She walked forward and gestured around the village. "You're in the wrong part of Autumn Forest, guys. Best you be getting to your villages, 'specially with autumn coming around pretty quickly."

"Oh, uh…" Penn stammered, turning to Verge. She shrugged, as if reminding him she had no clue. "R-Right! We'll, uh…be outta your wings in just a bit."

The fairy then turned to Verge, eyes widening slightly. The golden-winged fairy raised an eyebrow back. "Y'know, you kinda look like the Queen…whatever your talent is, you better get going too." With that, she flew off.

"I guess we're leaving then."

Verge stared down at her hand. "Speaking of my talent…I've always wondered why I have all the fairy talents…I really thought it was normal for a fairy, but seeing Sashi before with only one, I guess the fact is impossible…"

"More importantly, Verge," Boone piped in. "Who's the Queen? And why did that fairy say you looked like her?"

"Hey, guys," Sashi interrupted, her fingers tapping the Specs. "I just got something. I think we have a mission."

"Well, then, let's hear it!" Penn said impatiently. "Sash, check the Specs."

The brunette nodded, and the hologram appeared. "Penn, you're a Light fairy. Boone's a Tinker fairy, and I, of course, am a Fast-Flying one. For the past ten millennia—"

"_Ten thousand years?!" _Boone shrieked.

Sashi flinched at his outburst and glared. _"Yes, _Boone. For the past ten thousand years, the fairies have been hiding from the hawks. The feud isn't too serious, but the fairies are sworn enemies."

"We all know that, Sash," Verge nodded seriously.

"But for the past ten years, the hawks have been attacking. They've been trying to find ways to interfere with the fairies' talent practices. They've been trying to get to the fairies, get them off balance. Then one day, the King of Fairies and the Queen of the Ice Pixies had a child. This child was special, and the hawks found her to be a big factor to the kingdom's welfare. Her powers kept the kingdom even closer together.. So the hawks planned to keep her hostage, and a prisoner. But the princess disappeared before that could happen. Our mission is to return the princess to her rightful family."

"What?!" Penn exploded. "But we don't even know where the princess is! Heck, we don't even know what she looks like!"

"Maybe if we ask some people around, we might be able to find out what happened to her," Verge suggested.

"Good idea. But where can we ask all the fairies in the world…" The four began to hesitate.

"Oh, I know!" Boone exclaimed. "I saw a really big meadow when we were flying above the trees just a moment ago. We can go there."

"Nice going, Boone! Let's check it out now."

And then, they were off. The meadow wasn't far, and it certainly was bigger than they'd expected. Think the size of a regular football field, only ten times bigger. Double that when they were in fairy size. It seemed that the meadow was the only place in the whole dimension wherein the fairies could gather around and be in human size. So once the quartet arrived, they grew. The winged creatures walked around, talking, like they were in a high school rather than the entire population of fairies. It was weird how normal everything was, but Verge loved it.

"Look at all them!" Her blue eyes shone enthusiastically. "Finally, people of my kind! It's so refreshing!"

"Such bold words, Divergent," Penn muttered. "So, how are we gonna do this?"

A fairy in a ponytail and blue leaf-clothing was hovering beside them and Boone tapped his shoulder. "Excuse me, but can you tell us where the princess is?"

"Boone!"

The fairy frowned. "Wow, you act like you're not from here. _Everyone _knows what really happened to the princess!"

Sashi slammed her hand over her teammate's mouth and faked a smile. Though Boone complained, she ignored him and said, "Right, right, but just in case…mind helping us remember?"

The fairy crossed his arms. "OK, you're not joking. The princess has been missing for the past eight years! The King and Queen had to send her away – apparently for the sake of the world. It's a mystery if she wanted to do it or not, but she took off anyway, running off into different dimensions, just so she could get away from this one. Since the royal family is the only one with the proper access in and out of Fairy World, they knew the Hawks would eventually give up once they believed the princess was dead. But the King and Queen were never allowed to look after the child; the Hawks would notice. So this whole time, they've been pretending her disappearance was nothing; but all fairies know it hurt them to know their child thinks they've deserted her."

"Wow," was all Penn could say. The quartet was basically frozen in place, once hearing the story. It sounded awfully connected to a certain tale they knew… Verge was especially shocked, staring at the fairy before her the entire time, who just made it worse by saying it pretty emotionally. "That's…awful…so, is there any chance of getting her back?"

"Afraid not. She's been missing for eight years already, and even if we did search, there are about a million dimensions for us to look in. We couldn't risk it." The fairy shrugged. "Well. Maybe one day, she'll return somehow. It'll be a miracle when that'll happen." After a small smile, he flew away.

"Verge…" Penn turned to his golden-winged friend, and though she was staring at the ground, his cyan eyes stared dead serious into her soul. "There isn't a possibility you're royalty, is there?"

"I…" The fairy struggled to find her words. "I'm really not sure. You know I don't remember anything before I woke up in your room. I always knew I was part of Fairy World…but a member of the royal family…!" Her tongue was having some difficulty in speaking.

"OK, we need answers and we need them fast," the redhead insisted.

"Right," Sashi nodded. "We might find the King and Queen in their home. If Boone's right, and this should be the center of the Fairy World, it should be around here somewhere…"

"Uh…guys?" Boone questioned. "Is it me, or is the ground shaking?"

He was right. The meadow floors began moving, and every fairy shrunk down and flew off the ground. Sprouting up from the dirt like a flower, a castle shot out from the ground. It slowly rose until it fully came into view, and was big enough for all fairies to get in. It was definitely big enough to tower over a real human, and definitely no different than from any other castle they've ever come across. When all the pixies began piling in, the quartet exchanged looks with each other and followed.

The entire population didn't exactly join the little party. It would be impossible. But there were certainly more fairies than expected. Some were flying so close to the ceiling, some chose to stay on the ground. Penn, Verge, Boone, and Sashi tried to fly at least close enough to the thrones in front. Verge stared at them distractedly. One throne was pure golden, and possibly made out of fairy dust. One was made out of ice and snow. Miraculously, it stayed solid. But the fairy was mostly staring at the third, smaller one. It was a mix of both dust and snow, and seemed to be splashed with a little more color of blue and red. It was a weird, yet unique chair, and Verge found herself…drawn to it.

"Hey, Vergie."

The fairy found Sashi snapping her fingers in front of her face. She blinked her blue eyes as she stared at her friends. The brown-haired girl frowned slightly. "You all right?"

"Huh? O-Oh…yeah, I'm fine."

She certainly was not fine.

"Hey," Penn blurted out. "Just because someone said you looked like the Queen, has a child that's been gone the same number of years you have, and possibly shares the same tragic backstory we've all known ever since we all met, doesn't mean you could be that one troubled girl that the fairies' have been worried about for so long and could probably cause the world's destruction!"

This only made things more complicated and awkward. Boone and Sashi glared at him. Verge grew even more uncomfortable. "…What?"

Suddenly, a trumpet sound blared throughout the room, and all fairies immediately became silent. They lowered themselves to the ground and turned to the thrones, where an announcer was playing his instrument. He cleared his throat for everyone to hear and Verge forgot her troubles again.

"Presenting…King Lauqui and Queen Lareon!"

That's when the quartet noticed the skylight. The King and Queen flew in from the top of the castle so gracefully, you would think they were part of the skylight. Everyone clapped as they took their seats at their thrones. Though they were smiling and waving politely…well, Verge could read more than just Penn's emotions. After all these years, they were still looking devastated about their daughter. Who wouldn't be? To send your own child away for your kingdom's safety…the pain was not on their faces, but in their hearts.

King Lauqui was a brown-haired man with matching eyes and scruffy beard. He looked pretty lively, despite feeling all glum. He wore red and gold robes and clothing like Penn's underneath. His wife, who was much paler and had blue orbs, looked much more composed as she sat up straight in her chair. Her long, white hair cascaded down her shoulders and was held by a golden circlet around her forehead. Her blue dress looked so regal, it looked nothing like what Verge wore. The King then stood from his throne and held up his hands. "Fairies! We gather today once again, to slowly mark the nearing of autumn! We are only a few days away from the next season, and I have to say that every single one of you has done a wonderful job! As usual." Everyone gave a hollow "hurrah".

"Tough crowd," Boone mumbled.

"We also gather…to mourn over one more day in the loss of our daughter…what claimed to be one of the most powerful fairies in the universe!" He patted his wife's shoulder, who seemed to sniffle at the word "loss". All fairies bowed their heads in response. "We may never know where she will be…"

"Penn," Sashi whispered. "I have a bad feeling about this."

The redhead did too. But he didn't dare say a word.

The King sighed out.

"Princess Divergent shall forever be missed."

"_Divergent?"_

"_WAIT!"_

Everyone bolted up to the sound of the voice. Penn was horrified to see it was Verge herself. She flew out from the crowd and above them. Though the redhead tried to stop her, Sashi held him down. All he could do was watch as his best friend flew over to the thrones.

King Lauqui stared at the newcomer. "Who are you? I've never seen you befo—" And that's when he stopped talking, froze, and his eyes widened. Even the Queen, who was just looking all calm and relaxed, began to stand, now looking terrified and bewildered. "Wait…the golden wings…the unnatural brown hair with blue eyes…"

Verge had to frown. "Uh, it's not _that _unnatural—"

"Could you be?"

The Queen interrupted him by pushing her husband aside. She bent down to stare her deep blue eyes into Verge's, holding her steady by the shoulders in the process. All the fairy did was stare back, unfazed. The once tranquil royal was now brimming tears in her eyes.

"Are you…Verge?"

And now, Verge was crying. "M-Mom…"

The Queen burst out into a mix of laughter and sobs as they embraced.

Everyone began to cheer as the King was laughing as well. Once Verge had pulled away, she hugged her father. But the man just took his newfound daughter into his arms and tossed her in the air. He laughed even more when Verge never landed and just flew above them. In the midst of the cheering, King Lauqui said something about how she never changed, and the royal family had a proper fairy group air-hug.

In the crowd, Penn, Boone, and Sashi were anything _but _cheering.

"The princess has returned!" the king cried out gleefully. "Tonight, my brethren, we shall feast! We shall rejoice! A miracle has befallen upon us!"

Out of excitement and happiness, Verge created a fireworks explosion of dust, ice, and water. Seeing the proof she was the legitimate thing, everyone cheered even louder, and off they went to prepare.

* * *

If there were anyone anything other than the atmosphere of Fairy World at the moment, it would be Penn Zero.

The afternoon had gone by before they even knew it. Verge never returned to them, so they explored the dimension alone. Everyone immediately got ready for the party that was happening right now. One thing's for sure, fairies knew how to party; kind of explained Verge's energy when she's not sleeping. Boone seemed to have fun chatting with everyone, and Sash practically _owned _the dance floor…that is, if there was one. Fast-Flying fairies were apparently good air-dancers too. Penn looked like he was trying not to have fun. He was just sitting by a table, sighing to himself every now and then as he kept taking sips of cherry punch. He constantly looked everywhere, trying to see if Verge had returned with her parents her anything. She, unfortunately, still hasn't arrived.

"You waiting for someone, kid?"

The redhead looked up to see that helpful blue fairy from earlier. He took a seat across Penn and helped himself to the punch cup he held. The boy didn't even mind. "Yeah, I guess…my friend."

"You mean the princess. Dude, I can't believe you didn't know."

Penn laughed dryly. "Uh-huh, can't believe it either…"

"Well, if you guys are friends, Princess Verge will be back."

Penn had to nod slowly. "Yeah…yeah! She will, I know she will."

"Keep telling yourself that, bub."

"What."

* * *

Meanwhile, Verge had been exploring the castle with her new parents. In all honesty, she had never felt so happy in her entire life. For the past few hours, her parents have been asking questions nonstop, and it was likewise for her. Fairies were definitely curious creatures. They practically took turns asking one another, and the more they asked, the more they yearned to know more. Now that she was with her family after eight years, there were so many important questions she couldn't think of asking now. Instead, they gave her a tour of her life before she'd met Penn.

And Verge had to admit, it was completely different.

With no humans in Fairy World, fairies didn't need to be fairy guides to anyone. And as the princess, she practically relaxed away in the castle, never getting anything done and having everything pretty much spoon-fed to her. Verge frowned. If Sashi saw this know, she would've been very disappointed. Her past life wasn't anything like her present, and it only meant her sending away was probably a good thing. Still, it was still a good time, especially when her parents had always been there for her. Most important parents would off being busy doing their duties and jobs and stuff; Verge's parents had been overprotective, and she was fine with that.

"And this was your room!" The King opened yet another door to the castle and spread his arm out for emphasis. Verge flew into the room and gasped at what she saw.

All those princess rooms we've talked about that were so grand and large? Verge's was completely different. It was slightly bigger than the average fairy room, yes, but much smaller than what a princess would usually expect. Her bed wasn't a matchbox, but a pure wood-woven form with leaves for bed sheets. At the corner was a small toy box filled with different figures for Verge to practice her different talents. A squirrel-skin rug accompanied that. She even had her own balcony, but it was a little small as well. On the walls were her old drawings, in which at a time she wasn't that good yet, but seemed to have gotten better over the years. Everything was absolutely simple.

And Verge loved it.

"This was my room?" she breathed.

The Queen chuckled. "Yes, it was."

There was a small closet at the corner of the room and Verge went to open it. She chuckled, when all she found was one simple type of clothing on the racks, and it was the outfit she already wore. She even had a set of her boots, one pair for each day of the week. She picked up a simple sleeveless red and blue dress that reached up to her ankles and could be pinned up to the knees. She smiled, as if her parents knew what size she would be and what she would like. But what caught her attention was the crown dangling from the hanger.

She brought it out and examined it. It was basically a golden ring topped with diamonds, but it was still a pretty piece of jewelry. When they saw her stare at it sadly, the royals walked over and patted their daughter's shoulders. But even then, Verge wasn't feeling better. Her eyes were dark enough to cry, but no tears came around.

"We're so sorry, Vergie," the Queen whispered.

"For what?" Verge sniffed.

"You left us at such an early age," the King said sadly.

Surprisingly, the brunette laughed. "Hardly. I've read some people in books get separated at birth. I'm just lucky."

The Queen chuckled and hugged her. "You have never changed."

"But you were taken up with such a big responsibility," the King said darkly, now turning away. He definitely looked like _he _was going to cry. "It pained us to force you away…you had no companion with you either. We were forced to tell the Hawks you were dead…"

At the mention of the dreadful creatures, Verge piped up, "What do the Hawks want with me, anyway?"

"That's the point, my dear," the Queen said gravely. "They don't want _anything _from you. They know of your powers, but they cannot extract them. But over the years, they have found weaknesses to each of our talents. You may be the most powerful fairy, but you have plenty of weaknesses. The Hawks want to use that against the kingdom – and us – then keep you hostage. They know you are different, and they want you."

"Which is why we had to send you away," the King added. He put an arm over his wife's shoulders and they faced their child. "In fact, we might have to send you away again…"

"Mom, Dad, maybe I can take those Hawks," Verge protested. "It's been ten years! I might be able to do something by now. I've had proper training, and I've experienced _way _worse than you can ima—"

"It's too dangerous, daughter." The King grasped her shoulder blade and Verge's eyes widened. "We cannot risk your safety, nor the kingdom's fall. Maybe you can fight, but your death would not be worth it."

Verge's golden wings drooped sadly.

"It does not matter. Now you can come here whenever you like! And now that we are a perfect family again…as long as the Hawks don't know about you, we shall be…well, _fine." _ Verge had to smile.

The Queen brought her in for a hug again. "I am only delighted that you are safe, my Divergent."

"Yes…" The King hugged her from the other side, and Verge hugged back.

"I'm just glad I finally got to see you guys…"

* * *

During the party, Penn had already drank ten cups of cherry punch, and though it was not an alcoholic drink, it practically felt like it. "Hey!" he yelled out. "Another shot, please!"

"Get yer own," a fairy shouted back.

"Gah!" He slammed his fist down. "Ungrateful beings."

"Penn, are you all right?" Sashi asked, clearly concerned.

"Yeah," Boone admitted. "I don't think one can get drunk on fruit punch…"

"I'm fine," Penn sighed. "Just…confused."

"About what?" The brunette raised an eyebrow.

"…Stuff."

He stopped talking when he raised his head and saw Verge flying up to them. He had to stand now, smiling again. But it dropped as seeing her large grin. She had never looked so happy before, and Penn frowned even more at that. He straightened himself more when her parents were flying right behind her. "Oh, Verge! Hey…"

"Zero!" Verge practically tackled him in a hug. He forced himself to hug back. Verge hugged Boone and Sashi pretty quickly before gesturing to all three of them. "Mom, Dad, these are the people I've been telling you about. This is Sashi, Boone, and Zero. My team."

"Zero?" King Lauqui laughed lightly. "Is that really your name?"

"Actually, it's Penn," the redhead corrected. "Zero is my last name. I'm Penn Zero, part-time hero!"

The fairies stayed silent. "Our daughter and her humor," Queen Lareon chuckled. "We'll call you Zero."

"Of course you will."

"The Zero family has been taking care of me since the day you sent me off!" Verge had said that so happily, you would not have thought half that sentence was depressing.

"Well, young man!" The King reached out and took hold of Penn's hand, shaking it ever-so-strongly. "I cannot thank you enough."

"Ahahaha…yeah, you're welcome…you can thank me by letting go."

The King did, but that was all the business he could leave off now. He and his wife began to leave.

"Your parents seem nice," Boone said.

Verge chuckled nervously. "They just don't like humans."

"Why not?" Penn asked.

"Well, they claim they're worse than hawks. They rarely go into human size, you know."

"Wow." The redhead, who was already standing, tried to do so abruptly, but failed miserably. "Guess she wants us out of their wings, huh?"

"What?"

Penn began to fly away.

"Wait, Zero?"

"I'm going for a walk."

"It's not a walk if you're flying," Sashi noted.

"I don't tell you everything."

"Zero—"

Before she could fly over, he took off.

"You would think _he's_ the Fast-Flying one," Boone mumbled.

"What's his problem?" Verge asked. She turned to her two friends, now more worried than happy.

"Dunno," Sashi said blankly. "Been like that all day."

"…All day?"

Penn sighed as he flew through the woods. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Why was he so upset about all this? After all that talk about supporting Verge, here he was trying to get away. He couldn't even answer his own questions as he flew aimlessly through the trees. Through his slight grunts, he had to push his way through leaves. At some point, he accidentally flew into a tree.

"_Ow!"_

He fell to the ground, without even thinking of using his wings. He collapsed pretty badly, yet he still pushed himself to stand, only letting out shouts of anger. These only echoed out through the area, and nobody seemed to hear him. Which made things even more frustrating.

Penn sighed, leaning against a tree. "What the dust…oh, great now I'm talking like a fairy…hawks…"

"Excuse me?"

"Huh?"

First instinct was to get into battle stance.

Something emerged from the shadows. It appeared to be like a small brown sparrow, but Penn couldn't tell. It had a rather calm smirk on, as it cautiously walked up to the boy. Penn backed away slowly.

"You can talk?"

"Of course! All fairies can talk to animals." Of course, it was unsure if the fact was true.

"Oh…well, then…what do you want?"

"I heard your cries, Light Fairy."

"Uh, what cries? I wasn't crying."

"Sure you weren't."

"No, I…you know what? I shouldn't be talking to you—"

"No wait! …I mean…haha…you're pretty clever…say, where did you just come from?"

"Guess I can answer that. A party."

"A party!" The bird's wings spread out, its beady little eyes gleaming. "What kind of party?"

"For the princess."

"…The princess…"

"Yeah, she's back, whoop-dee-doo…she might even think about staying forever…"

"…But the princess is dead."

That's when Penn realized his mistake. Aren't the only beings that knew the princess was dead were the… His eyes widened as he slowly turned to the sparrow.

But it wasn't even a sparrow. It smirked even wider now, and let out a loud hawk call.

And that's when Penn snapped out of his drunken daze.

Pretty soon, more hawks began to come out of hiding. From where they were coming from, it was unknown, but they were _everywhere. _Penn's eyes were widened, as he stepped back to see the swarm of brown feathers, flapping into the direction of the meadow. He gasped, let out a shout, and flew back to the party.

Fortunately, he'd gotten there before the Hawks did, but they sure were slowly gaining. By the time he'd arrived, the first thing he did was yell.

"_Everyone, hawk!"_

Surprisingly, that worked. Every fairy screamed and began to fly away into their homes. But the Hawks arrived and stopped them. Now, the giant birds were chasing the little winged creatures, and even began attacking the smaller woodland animals. The fairies tried fighting back, but the Hawks dodged whatever fairy talent they could throw at them. It looked more like a food fight to the death. Boone and Sashi soon found Penn, and they screamed when they saw a Hawk try to eat them. They flew off, searching for Verge.

"These fairies can grow big!" Penn yelled. "Can't they do it now?!"

"Fairy magic doesn't work around Hawks!" Sashi yelled. "Penn, what did you do?!"

"I don't know! I…"

"We have to find Vergie!" Boone shouted out, dodging another hawk bite. "Hey! Watch the wings!"

"Where _is _Verge?!" Penn asked frantically.

"_There!"_

Verge was with her parents. The small bird from earlier was with the King of the Hawks. And they were slowly advancing on the royal family.

"_No!"_

The King and Queen were trying to hold Verge back. The Hawk ruler smirked as he stared down at the wide-eyed princess. Verge only stared up at it, not sure whether to feel terrified or not. "Well, well," the hawk boomed. "You thought you could hide her from us, did you? _'The princess is dead'. _Ha! I knew it was all false."

"Couldn't even keep 'er away for a full decade," the smaller hawk chuckled.

"You can't take her!" the King shouted. "Begone!"

"I don't think so."

The King of Hawks held up a small object in his beak. From a distance, it didn't look like much. But it was a little matchbox. The small hawk took a match out, struck it, and began to bring it near the fairies. The royals shrieked and jolted back, but Verge didn't join them. This gave the hawks the opportunity to grab her with their claws.

"Finally! Hawks! Looks like our job 'ere is done!"

Without another word, they all let out a mighty hawk cry and began to take off.

"_Mom! Dad!"_

"_Divergent!"_

"Verge!" Penn yelled. He tried to fly up after the King, but the small hawk noticed him first.

"See ya, Cry-Fairy!" With a hearty laugh and one flap of the wing, Penn was hit with a gust of strong wind, and he tumbled backwards.

"_Gah!" _The wind was more than just strong; he couldn't control his own wings. Boone and Sashi quickly flew up and helped him. But Penn didn't want to stop there. He tried to follow, but the Hawks were already too far away.

The only thing that could be seen now was the light from her golden wings.

"_Penn!"_

"_Verge!"_

The party was in tatters. Fairies were panting, and sprawled all over the floor. Food was scattered, and some got on some fairy wings. The animals that had joined them earlier were also pretty winded out. The Queen of the Snow Pixies was crying, as her subjects tried to comfort her. The King was making sure his own kinsmen were feeling better. Once that was better, he glared and pointed an accusing finger towards Penn.

"_You! _This is all your fault!"

"_What?!" _Penn exclaimed. The King was flying over to him, in what could've looked like normal stomping for a regular human. The Queen quickly recovered and joined her husband. She was still in tears, and tried to regain composure, but she was still looking like she'd cried her eyes out.

"You left the party before the Hawks arrived! I bet you lead them here, to take our Verge!"

"I would never!" Penn found himself screaming. The royals raised an eyebrow at how he had shouted at them, and the King glared more. "Divergent is my best friend, and I treated her like a sister! Why would I bring the Hawks to capture her?"

"You're a human, aren't you? Humans think they're so superior to us fairies! They think they can catch us as easily as they think they can. Why do you think we hide from them?!"

"Sir, I would never hurt Verge like that…"

"And yet you brought her to her doom!" The King practically had daggers in his orbs now. "You and your little friends should never have come with her."

"Even if Verge wanted us to come or not," Sashi snapped, flying up. "We're still a team. A team sticks together."

Penn nodded furiously. "That's right. In fact, we don't care how much you cowardly fairies are afraid of the Hawks!"

King Lauqui was now ready to explode. _"You dare—"_

"We, the humans – and possibly Verge's _true _family – will fly up to the Hawks' location and save the princess! We will bring back Divergent safe and sound, and we will _prove_ we are not as you think we are."

The King only crossed his arms at that.

The Queen tried wiping her tears away. "Zero, I know you mean no harm—"

"Ha!"

"—but if you save our daughter…we will forever be grateful."

"I don't need your gratitude," Penn said stubbornly. "I just want my friend back."

He turned and was off flying, with Boone and Sashi behind him.

"Wow, PZ," Sashi muttered, as they headed off for the Hawks' direction. "You must be incredibly brave or unrealistically stupid."

"I'll go with the former, thank you."

"So how are we gonna do this?" Boone questioned.

"I…have no idea."

Yes, they didn't know where they were going, yet the three kept flying west. It took a really long time, and they didn't even know where the Hawks lived. They figured somewhere with trees, but considering how the fairies owned those, they may have lived somewhere even farther away from that. They passed by forests, jungles, vast seas (or lakes, considering their size) and pretty much every other form of nature possible. Every once in a while, they would stop for a drink, but Penn got more determined each rest they had. Still, the more they flew, the more tired they became. It wasn't long before they came across the only mountain in the whole dimension.

"The Hawks could be there," Sashi announced. "Fairies don't do well in the mountains."

The redheaded boy frowned. "But there were times—"

"Verge is different, remember? We don't have time to lose. If we fly up, we'll get even more exhausted than we already are."

"Then we have to climb." Without a second thought, Penn grew into his normal human size. He did a little stretch, reaching his toes, before adding, "Come on, guys, let's do this. We've never failed a mission once."

The two friends obeyed and also grew. Together, they proceeded climbing the mountain.

Up ahead, they saw one cave. It had a small opening, as if only a…well, only a hawk could get inside. It was amazing they saw it from so many kilometers away, but the team did. "OK, guys," Penn finally said, once they were halfway up. "I've got a plan. We sneak in, scout around for Verge, then grab her when they don't notice. However, if they do, we attack full-force."

"That's a horrible plan!" Sashi cried angrily. "They know each of our weaknesses! They can defeat us easily!"

"You've got a better plan?"

"…Sadly, no."

"Then let's do this."

They finally arrived at the cave entrance.

"Can we walk the rest of the way?" Boone wheezed, catching his breath and placing his hands on his knees. "I don't think my wings can take much more of my weight."

"This is what you get," Sashi started.

"Guys, shh," Penn put a finger to his lips. "We're going in."

Shutting up, they walked inside.

They were welcomed with yet another long, dark alley through the cave. Penn provided some light as they walked, and the three resisted the urge to gasp. One the floors were the remnants of small bones and pieces of tattered wings. Sashi quickly turned her gaze upwards and Boone tried not to barf at what they were seeing. Penn was already beginning to lose focus as they anxiously walked ahead.

"Well…this is a tourist site I never want to see in real life."

"Let's just concentrate on finding Verge," Sashi managed. "Keep walking straight?"

"Y-Yeah…"

Boone then pointed forward. "There's some light up ahead if that's helpful…"

Penn's eyes widened as he looked again. From a distance, he heard screaming and shouting. He couldn't tell from whom it was from, but it could most probably be from Verge. The thought made him sick to the stomach, and he wanted to fly forward again. Instead, all three broke into a run. "OK, guys, we're doing this," the redhead declared. "Whatever happens, we just attack, and whatever we do, we make sure Verge is sa—"

"_DO YOU WANT ANOTHER PIECE OF THIS?!"_

"Whaaaaaaat."

They moved forward faster. Once they'd gotten to the final opening, they were hit with a bright light and saw the fight before them. The Hawks seemed to be losing as they were struggling to win against Verge.

Which probably made everyone else even more confused.

The fairy was striking them left and right. She punched their faces, kicked them in the stomach, and practically tore the feathers off their wings. Some even whimpered when she broke their claws. Whenever a Hawk tried to dowse her with water, she would create a protective shield and pull at their beaks. A dozen Hawks tried to attack from all different sides except the top. She used that as an opening and watched as all their heads collided at once. Verge then created a large snowstorm in the cave. Some Hawks began to freeze while the lucky ones that survived got pelted with snowballs. The King of Hawks stood high and mighty on his throne above a high rock as he yelled curses in Hawk-speak.

_"Get her! Get her, get her, she is only one fairy, you imbeciles!"_

"I'm not just a fairy!" Verge yelled out.

She held her hands out, and she began to summon all her powers. Sharp grass blades mixed with water, light mixed with dust, with all of it starting to swirl in a whirlwind of sorts... The Hawks all stared, rather confused at what she was doing, some dared to laugh. Penn gasped immediately and tackled his team into cover. The small Hawk from earlier tried to lean in closer, but that was a bad idea. The combined force was getting bigger and bigger. Some tried to back away now, but it was too late for them.

The fairy unleashed her attack.

Everyone got hit with a bright light, plus a solid impact.

Smoke began to form all around, and Penn, Boone and Sashi held their heads together as they waited for it to die down. Rocks were falling from the top, and the King of Hawks screeched when one hit his throne. He had to fly off and fall to the cave floor. Groaning, he stood up, but his eyes widened at what he saw. The three fairies that hid emerged from hiding and joined in a chorus of gasping.

Hawks were sprawled, moaning, on the floor, as they were covered in grass and snow, with some floating in puddles of water. Some Hawks were squeaking in high-pitched tones, as they blinked their eye ferociously, blinded at the light that had been flashed. Most of them lifted their wet, broken wings and shook the droplets off, but they all knew they were too weak to fly again. The King of Hawks saw the small hawk from earlier sprawled over a rock, groaning the most of all. He gasped and flapped his wings as he got closer, but stopped when he saw the bird wasn't alone. Verge stood on the same rock, foot pressed firmly into the ground as she looked at the King sternly.

"I am a part-time fairy guide."

The King glared up at the fairy as her teammates moved forward. They were now looking at Verge in a completely different light as the fairy only looked back at the Hawk blankly.

Finallym he let out a loud screech, spreading his wings. Penn, Boone, and Sashi were ready to attack again. The King noticed them finally and he sighed. "All right. The Hawks will not bother the fairies anymore."

The four smiled excitedly.

"Do not think this is the end!" As Verge moved aside, the King stroked the smaller Hawk's wings. "We will get our revenge eventually...until then, we _will _find your weakness!"

"Maybe you will," Verge said. "But..._never_ get in the way of my family and I ever again."

The Hawk only grunted.

Divergent turned and tackled her friends. They didn't even see it coming. Everyone was laughing as the four did a group hug. Penn was smiling the most of all. After they broke away, they quickly did a quadruple fist bump.

"I knew you were more than just a princess," Sashi ruffled Verge's hair.

She laughed lightly "Uh, thanks?"

"How did you do that, Verge?" Penn questioned.

"Hey...being in this team taught me a lot of things." When she smiled, the team gave her another hug. "...Let's get back guys."

As they began to fly out the cave, Verge turned to look back at the Hawks.

"Are you all right, son?"

"Yes, Father..."

"Oh, if anything happened to you..."

"I didn't want to hurt anyone, you know..." Verge muttered.

Wether the Hawks heard or not...the four fairies had already left.

* * *

When they got back to the meadow, the King and Queen embraced, thanked the skies that she was safe, as Verge explained everything that had happened. They were pretty shocked when Penn, Boone, and Sashi confirmed the big fight. All the fairies listened attentively, and gasped every time. "Basically, they won't bother us ever again," Verge concluded. "Or at least for the next few years, anyway. Who knows? The point is, we're safe."

That was enough for the fairies. "Beat your wings for the Princess!" a fairy cried out.

_"FLAP, FLAP, FLAP! All hail Divergent!"_

When Penn heard that, eh had to frown again.

King Lauqui laughed heartily again as he and his wife took their daughter in for another hug. "I am _so _proud of you, Verge!"

"We both are," Queen Lareon said breathlessly. "We never should have let you leave!"

"If we'd known you could've handled it all these years...well, then there was no reason to send you away!"

Verge chuckled as well. "Thanks, Mom, Dad, but really-"

The Queen took her daughter by the shoulders. "My dear, you can stay with us now. Forever. You don't have to leave! Whatever you have done before, it's over now. You can be a normal fairy."

"And better yet, the Princess," the King added. "You will be the heir to this fine kingdom, and you will never have to hide your identity again." With a cheeky grin, he turned to his subjects. "Isn't that right, winged ones?!"

Every fairy cheered loudly in agreement; except for three certain ones. Penn let out a loud sigh, turned away, and pushed his way out of the crowd. Boone and Sashi exchanged looks and followed.

Verge stared at her parents, and back at the crowd. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...and this was what she'd always wanted. To be "normal"...to be with her family...to know who she really was...

But then she saw her teammates flying away and she frowned. Penn seemed mad about something, but Boone and Sashi were trying to stop him. It made her wonder. Without her true family...well, she wouldn't really _be_ herself...

"Mom, Dad," she finally said. The King and Queen looked into her deep blue orbs and she looked up at them. "I have been looking forward to this day for eight years..." They smiled. "But...this isn't who I am anymore."

The royals frowned. "What are you saying?" the Queen asked slowly.

Verge quickly hugged them. "You are amazing parents. You are everything I dreamed my real parents would be...but I couldn't have fought the Hawks alone. Well, yeah, I did, but you think I learned all those moves alone?" The royals exchanged looks. "I am who I am...because I have my team. And though I can see you for the rest of my life now...I don't think I'll ever be the same without them."

"So, what is your answer?" the King demanded impatiently.

Verge only smiled. She looked at all the fairies, looking up hopefully.

Without another word, she flew over them and into the forest.

* * *

"PZ, come on," Sashi practically pleaded.

"Penn, you're looking too far beyond all this," Boone started.

"Am I, Boone?" The redhead finally turned to them, fire in his eyes. "Am I? Verge is staying, isn't she? She's got her life back, and now she doesn't need us. Let's just go."

"Penn, you're being overdramatic," Sashi snapped. "She isn't even back yet...let's just talk to her-"

"But I don't want to..." Penn turned away, his hair covering his eyes like some anime character. "I want her happy...but I can't let her see me not happy for her..."

The two teammates exchanged worried looks.

Verge was flying rapidly through the trees, searching for her friends. It wasn't long before she'd ended up at the forest where they first arrived. No sooner after her arrival, she found the three, just standing in an open area, not. Seeing their faces, she grew concerned and began to fly down. "Guys!"

They immediately looked upwards, the gold-winged fairy cascading down to them. "Verge!" Boone and Sashi cried out.

But the fairy was looking at Penn now. His back was turned to her, and his head was hung down. Verge flew closer, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Zero-"

"What do you want, Verge..."

This made the brunette chuckle. "What do I want? Well, I _want _a toy plane that can function without a remote control, but I figure that's too much to ask for this Christmas-"

"I mean why are you here...we were just about to leave."

"Aw, without me? As if I'd let you." When she got no response, Verge sighed. "Zero, please look at me."

Penn didn't turn.

"Penn..."

"I'm sorry, Verge...I don't want you to worry about us...but I don't want you to stay either..." Tears threatened his eyes, and Boone had already blown his nose on his shirt.

Verge frowned, but she quickly smiled. "Who said I was?" Penn slowly lifted his head. Verge took his shoulders, spun him, and forced him to look into her eyes. "You guys are my family too. There's no way I would ever give up on our team. I love you guys too much."

"We love you too, Verge." Surprisingly, it was Sashi who went and brought them in for a group hug. Penn was smiling now, and he looked at Verge properly. She smiled even wider, especially when Boone practically carried the three as he joined.

"Yeah! We're one happy family!"

"What about us, daughter?"

The four all whirled and looked to see the King and Queen coming up to them. Verge had to pull away from the hug and walked up to them. "Mom, Dad, I can always come back anyway," Verge began. "I'll get Phyllis to do something about it, and-"

"There's no need," the King interrupted. "I want to be able to see my child and make up for the eight years she's been gone."

"Dad..."

"We want to be with you too, Vergie," the Queen said. For some reason, she was smiling... "So I think it's best if you keep this."

The four all gathered around their friend now, as the King brought out a metal box. It looked vaguely familiar...but it was only because it looked like Penn's. The only difference was the symbol on top: a pair of wings, that surprisingly looked like Verge's. The fairy took the box shakily and opened it up. Inside, was a circular device with a triangular screen. It was black, white, and _golden_ and Verge gasped as she brought it out. The object felt so familiar in her hands, and she only knew because she'd held something like it before...just not as often.

"My own MUHU?" she said breathlessly. Her friends began to grin.

"So you can contact us whenever you want," the Queen said, smiling wider. "And we can you."

"Just know that whatever happens..." The King put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. Only then, did he smile. "We'll always be with you. At least now, that's for sure."

Verge was ready to cry. "I love you guys..."

She tackled them into a big bear hug. They hugged her back, even more tightly than they'd ever did before, as they just stood, the royal fairy family being together for one final time. Penn, Boone, and Sashi looked at each other and gave a curt nod.

The fairy pulled away and joined her friends again. Sashi held her WAT up as Penn placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well, Verge, time to go," he said.

"Right..."

"Hey, we'll be back, all right?"

"Oh, I know." Verge placed her elbow over Penn's shoulder and pulled Boone and Sashi closer. "I'd like to say this is only the beginning...but we all know it's not, isn't it?"

"Got a point there," Boone piped.

"Hey, hey!" Penn said. "We just need to get back before-"

There was that familiar blue light, and everyone was zapped.

* * *

It already appeared to be daytime. When everyone got back on the zap platform, Phyllis was staring at them from above, rather stoically, and everyone fidgeted nervously. Penn cleared his throat and tried for a smile. "Uh, hey Phyllis! Good...morning?"

"We can explain," Boone said.

"No need for explanation," Phyllis sighed and turned to Verge, who was trying to look anywhere _but_ at the technician. But she didn't look at all mad. "Phyllis understand why you did it."

"Yeah, I know you do...you understood when _Zero _did it, so..."

"Hey," the redhead protested.

"I will let you off this one time." The mechanic lowered herself to their level and nodded at the fairy. "Only hope you found what you have been looking for."

Verge had to smile at that. "Thanks, Phyllis."

"Now, all of you will get deduction on salary."

Sashi stared bluntly. "You don't pay us."

"Get out."

* * *

Back at home, while Penn was talking to his Aunt and Uncle, Verge was looking over her new MUHU. She was so tempted to call her parents...but she knew she'd have to wait. She couldn't help smiling as she grasped it once again. _'Finally...I know now.'_

Penn groaned as he climbed the stairs and sighed as he got to the room. He stopped when he saw Verge sitting on his bed, and went over to sit beside her. They were both silent for a good long while before Penn cleared his throat again. "So...you meant what you said?"

"About?"

"About always being for the team?"

Verge slowly turned to him and her grin went wide once more. "I'm still here, aren't I?" This made Penn smile back.

"I'll always be your fairy guide."

"That's good to know."

He put an arm over her shoulder, but Verge turned smaller before he could. Laughing as he almost fell, Penn straightened, and they did a tiny fist-bump.

_~The End~_

* * *

**There are so many things I want to say but can't right now because I'm so sleepy**

**We better wait until the sequel then! **

**Readers, thanks so much for sticking with this story until the very end. I am forever grateful to those who have**** been with this fanfic and have continued to read it. The more I wrote, the more I got worried about the stats it got. But some people showed me that it's not all about stats. Finally, I have another fanfiction over and done with. But I have to tell you, writing my longest fanfic ever was real fun! Especially when I have the people supporting me :)**

**I'm real glad some people read it. Remember, there's a season 2, which means there will be a sequel! Be on the look out for a Penn Zero story from me when the second season in 2016 comes around! I'll be there, ready for the first episode ;)**

**Right now, there's really a lot more I want to say, but can't. Way too tired. This was another great long episode and I hope you guys liked it! **

**And every other chapter that I've ever written here.**

**Remember to favorite and review! Always appreciated :D**

**See you guys soon! Signing off for now! -Ridaa**


	47. Another important note, sorry

**I'm sorry. I understand that there are a lot of you asking for the sequel to this story. However, I must request all of you…**

**Please be patient. I am going through a lot currently education-wise and family-wise, and I don't have time for my hobbies. I rarely have time for anything. I am writing a oneshot currently though. I was so inspired by Descendants 2. If you are a fan of my first oneshot with my Descendants OC, have a look at it again and look forward to my upcoming one!**

**But right now, I do not have the time to write the Penn Zero Season 2 sequel. Hopefully, I will in the near future though. Since the whole show is ending (SOBBB) I know I'll have plenty of time to write it.**

**In the meantime, leave in the reviews some /proper/ ideas on what you want in the finaly story (ex. Romance between Penn and Verge, Verge choosing to stay in her own dimension, idk) and until I can write everything down, I do hope you can be patient with me :)**

**-Ridaa**


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